First visit, Tuesday 28th May.

I finally managed to make time on a rainy Tuesday morning to visit Tate Modern to see this exhibition for the first time. It had opened while I was away in Italy but I will make further visits before October.

I very quickly realised that I should initially focus on the Kandinsky paintings as I had never had the opportunity previously of seeing a historical group. I was surprised at the limited time span between 1908 and 1911 upon which this exhibition focuses and the transition in Kandinsky's artistic practice during that time.

Munich - Before the City (Munich-Schwabing with the Church of St. Ursula) 1908
oil on card on board
68.8 x 49.0 cm

Murnau - Johannisstrasse from a Window of the Griesbräu 1908
oil on cardboard
50.0 x 70.0 cm

The initial works from 1908 have a tight structured palette of saturated colour across a tonal range.

There may be hints of structural composition in the works from 1909.

Bedroom in Ainmillerstrasse 1909
oil on card
48.5 x 69.5 cm

Interior (My Dining Room) 1909
oil on card
50.0 x 65.0 cm

Murnau - Footpath and Houses 1909
oil on card

By 1911 the fairly strict representational elements have been relinquished and a more relaxed compositional structure is in place.

I will have to do some proper research beyond the scope of this exhibition before visiting again in order to better understand the context. I note that it was in 1911 that Kandinsky formed a new group, the Blue Rider (Der Blaue Reiter) with like-minded artists such as August Macke, Franz Marc, Albert Bloch, and Gabriele Münter.

Impression VI (Sunday) 1911
oil on canvas
107.0 x 95.0 cm

Impression IV (Gendarme) 1911
oil on canvas
95.0 x 107.0 cm

St George III 1911
oil on canvas
97.5 x 107.5 cm

Second visit, Tuesday 9th July.

Needless to say there have been many distractions since the last visit and I have not found time for any further research.

On considering the first 1911 paintings I had looked at again I did wonder about the drive or impetus to make paintings and the switch to abstract rather than representative modes. Later in the exhibition there is indeed a composition supposedly inspired by an abstract musical composition.

The Cow 1910
oil on canvas
95.5 x 105 cm

Impression III (Concert), 1911
oil on canvas
77.5 x 100 cm

Cossacks 1910-1
oil on canvas
94 x 130 cm

Third visit, Thursday 5th September.

It has been a busy summer and I was glad to find a convenient 'rainy' morning for a quick visit again.

I did look at some of the Kandinski paintings but also noticed the photographs by Gabriele Münter from 1905.

Sousse, View of the City and Harbour from the Ribat Tower 1905,
printed 2006-7
Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper

Rue du Pacha, near the Madrasaa Bir el-Hadjar, Tunisia 1905
printed 2023-24
Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper

Souk Dziria, Rue de l'Hôpital Sadiki, Tunisia 1905
printed 2006-7
Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper

The idea of making photographs at that point in history was relatively new so I can imagine the impact that it would have within the artistic community.

The viewpoint of the photographer as opposed to that of the painter is probably radically different even though the difference, at this distance, is quite difficult to appreciate.

At the Port of Tunis 1905
printed 2023-24
Photograph, inkjet print on paper

Caravane in Bardo. Herd of Camels with Female Riders, Tunisia 1905
printed 2006-7
Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper

Carnival in Tunisia, Arab Rider Performing an Exercise 1905
printed 2023-24
Photograph, inkjet print on paper