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Wassily Kandinsky: All Saints Day II
ArtWay Visual Meditation 5 November 2023
Wassily Kandinsky: All Saints Day II
A Joy Unspeakable
by Irena Tippett
Wassily Kandinsky is widely known for his pure abstract art, for his theorizing about colour, shape and line, and for what seems to be a completely analytical view of painting. What is not known as widely is the deeply personal and biblical call upon which his life and art were built. This call began with a powerful dream in early childhood and it is this dream which led Kandinsky ultimately to paint the visionary All Saints II pictured above.
Observed by Christians around the world, All Saints Day is a feast celebrating faithful believers from days past. Traditional All Saints paintings are rather static compositions, comprised of rows of canonical saints. By contrast, All Saints II is teaming with figures in motion. By 1911 Kandinsky began in earnest to choose abstract expression through colour and the dynamics of line and shape. The lines and colours leap and flow and bang together. There is noise and joy and victory and struggle. The composition of the painting is complex, a culmination of his many iterations of the All Saints theme, with added thematic overlays from other biblical subjects. The result is this theologically rich meditation on All Saints Day.
Recurring motifs among these iterations help us find our way into the painting. The figure of St. John, the visionary writer of the Book of Revelation, stands on the right-hand side. At his feet there is a blue heart-like shape which we can interpret as an open Bible. Upon this book we see biblical figures, most obviously John the Baptist holding his severed head. The three figures standing with arms gesturing to the right are almost certainly Mary Magdalene, Peter and John, all of whom visited the empty tomb on Easter morning. Before them stands a lamb (Cf. John 1:29). Identification is more difficult for other figures. Who is the woman in yellow who stands in front? By the gesture of her right hand, she seems to be with child. Is this Mary, the mother of Jesus? Or does she represent all of the faithful women from the line of the Saviour? Beyond the borders of the Bible motif, we see saints from the history of the church, some identifiable, some not. In the centre of the painting there is a cluster of figures that look like candles with the figure of Mary standing protectively over them. These are the baptized and they represent all the saints—biblical, historical, young, old, male, and female—whom we celebrate on All Saints Day. Everyone who has been baptized into Christ is a saint.
In a painting that celebrates the victorious saints, is it not surprising to see what looks like a giant carnivorous fish, angry waves and jarring zig-zag lines? A look at Kandinsky’s other works, particularly The Flood (1913) and The Great Resurrection, (1913), will help us recognize, in these elements, the serpent-dragon, the story of the flood and a great storm. In the upper centre of the painting above the baptized we see the City of Man about to collapse. Here, the theology of All Saints Day is enriched by the remembrance that the walk of faith takes place in a crucible, that suffering and evil exist in our world and that judgement is necessary for salvation to be complete.
There are so many contributing themes which one could follow in this painting but we cannot miss the main symphonic theme, that is, the assured and glorious destination of the saints in heaven. This heavenly hope energizes the entire composition, recalling Kandinsky’s dream from early childhood. He writes, “I saw heaven in a dream; even as a memory that dream still moves me with a force that has not lost its impact.” The intent upward gaze of St. John, the angels with trumpets, the wind blowing, the dynamic lines that swirl and gather, the upward straining of arms: all sing the triumphant song. The reds in this painting lead to the climax where the holy King victoriously lifts high the cross of Christ and the holy Church with it. Behind the cross blazes the sun, a glowing representation of Christ’s resurrection. We catch sight of Elijah triumphantly transported to heaven in his chariot of fire, pulled by horses of fire (2 Kings 2:11).
All Saints II is a symphonic composition built on the dynamic of faith which leads at last, in a great crescendo, to the great and final resurrection. It presents for us a vision of the universal church, the assured triumph of good over evil, and the future joy of our heavenly home, when time will be folded into eternity. Thanks be to God!
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Wassily Kandinsky, All Saints II (Allerheiligen II), 1911, oil on canvas, 86x99 cm. (33 1/8 x39 in.), Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich.
Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian artist. Often considered the father of abstract art, Kandinsky is credited with early forays into abstraction and unique explorations in colour, form, and line. He was born in 1866 in Moscow. His father was a successful businessman who later moved the family to Odessa, where he ran a tea company. Kandinsky showed an early talent for music (piano and cello) as well as drawing. In 1886, intending a career in law, he enrolled at the University of Moscow. Upon graduation in 1893, he was offered a Professor of Law position at a university in Estonia. However, in 1896, he gave up his teaching career to pursue painting full-time. With an early penchant for landscapes rendered in Post-Impressionist style, Kandinsky's later work became increasingly abstract and non-representational, often inspired by music, geometry, and colour theory. His work with the Bauhaus school of art in Germany during the 1920s and early 1930s and his writings about abstract art cemented his reputation as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Kandinsky's book Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1910) is still readily available.
Irena Tippett has a Master's degree in Art History from the University of Toronto. It was during summer courses at Regent College, Vancouver, B.C. that she discovered the beauty of her field in relation to her faith. Over the years, most of her energy has been spent in women’s Bible ministry at St. John's Anglican Church in Vancouver, B.C. Canada, and with her large family, but she continues to find opportunities to serve God through her passion for art. She has contributed a number of visual meditations to ArtWay since 2011.
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ART NEWS INTERNATIONAL
NEW ARTWAY BLOG. Jonathan Evens interviews David Miller on his work and the “interrelation, symbiosis and overlap” between writing and visual art. Noted UK poet, fiction writer, painter, and musician, David Miller was born in Melbourne, Australia, but has lived in the UK for many years. His recent publications include Time, Wisdom, & Koalas (Chax Press, 2023), a work of fantastic fiction, and (close) (Knives Forks and Spoons Press, 2023), a deeply moving sequence of poetry and prose. A prolific writer, other recent publications include: Afterword (Shearsman Books, 2022), circle square triangle (Spuyten Duyvil, 2022), An Envelope for Silence (above/ground press, 2022) and Some Other Shadows (Knives Forks and Spoons Press, 2022). Read more
ARTWAY NEWS SECTION. New on the website: a section on the frontpage of the ArtWay website with all the latest news items. With a list of current exhibitions, coming-up symposia and lectures, podcasts, videos, books, ArtWay news and more.See here
EVERYWHERE IS HEAVEN. A poetry reading featuring Malcolm Guite will mark the opening of 'Everywhere is Heaven: Stanley Spencer/Roger Wagner,’ an exhibition at the Stanley Spencer Gallery in Cookham. The exhibition will be open from 10.30am to 5pm (tickets £7). The poetry reading will take place in Holy Trinity Cookham (the setting of Spencer's Cookham Resurrection) from 2pm to 3.30, with an interval and tea 18 Nov 2023 02:00 - 03:30 GMT. The ticket price for the poetry reading is £10 and can be purchased here.
‘FLUID BODY’. A collaboration between Art + Christianity and Morphē arts, Fluid Body will be an evening of performance, film and discussion exploring bodily liquids and their theological significance. There will be contributions by the artists Mimi Nicholson and Ilyas Kassam, followed by a talk by the theologian Dr Karen O’Donnell. 24 November, 7 – 9pm, Saint Barnabas Dalston, Shacklewell Row, London E8 2EA. Nearest tube: Dalston Kingsland. Register for free tickets here.
ANCHORHOLD (ART INSTALLATION). The Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage is hosting a re-imagining of Julian of Norwich’s anchoress cell at the National Cathedral, Washington DC. Visitors are invited to enter the enclosure and explore contemporary and historic contemplative practices as well as online and public programs. Visual artist Kiki McGrath will be present in the Center November 1-3, 6-7, 9-10 from 12:00 –5:00 pm. https://cathedral.org/discover/programs/center-for-prayer-pilgrimage/
TURNING HEADS. BRUEGEL, RUBENS AND REMBRANDT. Exhibition at the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten (KMSKA), Antwerp, Belgium, 20 October 2023 - 21 January 2024. “Artists in the Low Countries were intrigued by the human face and often depicted it. And not only in portraits. They also painted countenances where the model’s identity did not matter. Think of Quinten Metsijs’ grotesque heads, Pieter Bruegel’s peasant mugs, Peter Paul Rubens’ studies of a head and the expressive visages by Adriaan Brouwer and Rembrandt. These works, sometimes called ‘mugs’, do not represent someone but something. Not a specific person but a type, feeling, or character trait. Turning Heads (Krasse Koppen) explores the story behind these intriguing heads and showcases them in all their diversity. Rooted in innovative scholarly research, the project is translated into something light-hearted and accessible. The exhibition features a high-quality selection of some sixty works including prestigious loans of Flemish Masters (Metsijs, Bruegel, Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens and Brouwer) and leading international artists (Dürer, Bosch, Barocci, Rembrandt and Vermeer). The Antwerp Old Masters were phenomenal painters of faces. The KMSKA is therefore the ideal venue for the first major worldwide exhibition featuring these heads. After Antwerp, the exhibition travels to the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin where it will shown from 24 February to 26 May 2024.
OPENING OF THE FAITH MUSEUM IN BISHOP AUCKLAND, COUNTY DURHAM, UK. The Faith Museum opened on the 7thof October and is featuring an exhibition by Mat Collishaw. Writes Mark Brown for the Guardian: “Early visitors to a dramatic, immersive work by Mat Collishaw have talked of it prompting emotional and cathartic responses – which is music to the ears of the artist. ‘That would be the ultimate reward,’ he said. ‘If someone can take some sort of solace from the work then that really is amazing.’ Collishaw’s work features a blue iris burning before you, accompanied by a choral soundtrack. The iris is engulfed by flames but never consumed by them, which visitors may, the artist hopes, imagine is the moment before the death of Christ or a martyr. It is part of a unique museum opening in October in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, exploring 6,000 years of faith in Britain. More than 250 objects are on display including the Binchester ring, which was discovered locally and is one of the earliest examples of Christian symbolism ever found in Britain. Upstairs there are works exploring themes of faith by contemporary artists including the Singh twins, the late Khadija Saye, who died in the Grenfell Tower fire; and Collishaw, one of the original YBAs.”
SOLACE ANGEL WINGS (ART INSTALLATION) WEDNESDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2023 10:00 AM TO MONDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2023 11:00 AM, SHEFFIELD CATHEDRAL, SHEFFIELD, UK. Sheffield Cathedral is pleased to host Solace, a majestic installation of angel wings crafted from steel and glass. Solace’s frame is the work of Ryan Harms; its 110 individually blown, unique glass feathers are the creation of Layne Rowe. Stretching to a width of more than three meters, and rising to an equal height, the wings were conceived as a response to the tragic suffering of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rowe explains that for him the glass wings, with their associations to birds, mythological creatures, and angels, offer ‘a symbol of freedom, unity, strength and power, yet providing a sense of humility.’ https://www.sheffieldcathedral.org/whats-on/2023/9/27/solace-angel-wings
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