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Abstract art is one of the most complex forms of art to interpret and create. This is a form

of art that “does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality but instead uses

shapes, colors, forms, and gentle marks to achieve its effect” (Tate). Vasily Kandinsky, a

Russian artist, was famous for his use of abstract art, especially during the time of expressionism.

He believed abstract art to be “the richest, most musical form of art expression.” As well as

believing that the “physical properties of artwork coils stir emotions.” His overall goal was to

bring painting and music-making closer together (Kandinsky).

Vasily Kandinsky, Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons), 1913, Oil on canvas, 111 × 111.3 cm

(43 11/16 × 43 13/16 in.) is an example of his abstract art. The subject matter can be challenging

to see at first, but with a closer and careful look, an observer can point out leaning buildings, a

crowd of people, and a smoking cannon. During the time of 1913, there was constant talk of war

that was occurring that year in Russia. The subject matter of Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons)

revolved around the events happening at the time, in this case, the talk of war (Kandinsky).

Having some contextual analysis of the historical events of 1913 Russia helps viewers

better understand the artwork. As mentioned above, there was constant talk of war for Russia and

never-ending fear that war may come. This is evident in the painting through the cannons on the

bottom right of the painting and the smoke releasing from the cannon, as well as the fearful

crowd of people and leaning buildings, indicating falling buildings due to the destruction that

comes with war.

The formal elements of his oil painting further emphasize the subject matter. For

example, the colors. Vasily Kandinsky uses the psychology of colors to change the way the

viewer reacts to the painting in addition to the design of colors by layering and overlapping the

bright colors with subtle dark colors. At a first glance, viewers will see the vivid colors and
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connect the bright colors with pleasant and happy thoughts and believe the art is meant to

represent the same, but the slightly darker colors of brown and black that outline a cannon and

smoke of the cannon, a fearful crowd of people and leaning buildings counters that. During the

time of the painting, 1913, in Russia, there was talk of war throughout the entire year, and

although people went on about their everyday lives as happily as they could, the fear of war

lingered, as does the dark contrast of colors in the oil painting of Improvisation No. 30

(Cannons).

In addition to the element of color, the formal element of shapes is also an important

element of Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons). As mentioned before, darker colors are used to

outline and create shapes, precisely organic shapes, which are unpredictable and irregular lines

that conjure up the natural world. The most distinctive shapes presented in the painting it those

that reflect the time of the piece and the fear of war coming and the impacts of that war; cannons

going off, buildings falling over, and the fear the people will inevitably face if war is to come. In

addition to that, two distinctive shapes closely represent circles on the top right and top left of the

painting, both different colors. It can be assumed that one side, in this case, the darker side, can

represent night, and the other side, the brighter side, could represent the day, but talk of war is

still ongoing despite the time of day. All of these shapes help represent the world in which the

artist, Vasily Kandinsky, was living; fear of war but living as if it wasn’t a possibility.

Lastly, the formal element of the lines presented in the painting further emphasizes the

underlying meaning of the artwork. Lines are used in art to express movement. Regarding

Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons), the most memorable lines are the contour lines that suggest the

volume of space by defining the edge of objects, giving us clues about the deeper meaning of the

artwork. The most distinctive lines are those of the outlines of the cannon’s smoke and the
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outlines of the leaning building in the background. These lines bring forth the idea that the

painting isn’t as uplifting as the surrounding colors portray it to be. Using a darker shade for the

lines to outline the building and cannon smoke shows the outcome of the possibility of war -

buildings falling and overall destruction from a cannon. Even the subtle gray lines that makeup

people show fear will engross people and even the crowds that form to see the destruction which

puts them in harm’s way. The lines further emphasize the fear of war, not for the war itself but

for the outcome of war of lost lives, a demolished home, and a sense of loss for everything

people currently know.

Regarding the principles of design, a principle used in the painting Improvisation No. 30

(Cannons) is variety. The use of different shapes and colors within the painting intensifies the

impact of the artwork. As mentioned before, the piece generally uses a mixture of bright colors

but subtle dark colors that outline various shapes that create an aspect of the natural world -

buildings, people, and smoke. The intensity of the bright colors is meant for the viewer to

overlook the dark colors, and Vasily Kandinsky did not bring attention to the details but waited

for his audience to figure it out. But the darker brown, gray, and black colors soon showed the

piece was more than a random assortment of colors and lines, intensifying the artwork’s true

meaning- fear of war.

Emphasis was also an important principle of design for the painting. The emphasis on

the smoke was what drew an audience to the painting. The lines of the smoke are a shade of

brown, making the color outline darker than most of the painting, drawing attention to the

content of the artwork. This can also be said for the outlines of the building. After noticing the

smoke, the eyes of the viewer will be drawn to the emphasis of the leaning building in the center-

right of the painting. By emphasizing these lines with darker colors, it showed the deeper
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meaning of the oil painting Vasily Kandinsky was trying to express rather than a random

assortment of colors many portray his artwork to be.

In addition to emphasis, the focal point of Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons) is the

cannons on the bottom right of the page. This is the center of interest in the painting, and unlike

the rest of the emphasized aspects of the painting, like the cannon smoke, the crowd of people,

and the leaning buildings, the cannons are painted entirely brown and black, not only outlines in

darker colors but intentionally painted darker in the midst of bright colors. Given that the abstract

painting is a variety of assorted bright colors placing a darker color blatantly on top of a bright

yellow makes your eyes focus on that, the cannon, the most. Doing so gets the viewer to think

about what that object is and its purpose. With these rising questions, the artwork can unfold by

following the cannon and seeing the smoke, following the leaning building above and the crowd

of people below. Given the time period in which the piece was created, 1913 Russia, it is

revealed that it reflects the current events of that time.

Lastly, the proportions of the cannons compared to the other objects, the crowd of

people, and the leaning buildings, show the relation of the impact of war. The cannon is the main

cause of war, therefor the cannon's proportions in the painting are the largest and most

prominent. The next largest proportion is the smoke that comes out of the cannon. The next

proportion, which is the third largest, is the leaning buildings due to the firing from the cannons,

affecting the smallest proportions, the crowd of people, who witness their country and home fall

to destruction.

As mentioned throughout, the piece itself is known as abstract, as it is defined as abstract

art for its effect of using various shapes, forms, and colors. Abstract art, at a glimpse, is also a

form of art that does not attempt to represent external reality. However, through in-depth
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analysis, it was discovered that Vasily Kandinsky’s Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons) does, in

fact, have strong references to the real world; also making the art figurative. Figurative art is art

that references the real world by using objects, shapes, and likenesses of any form that is

recognizable in a realistic form. In reference to Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons), the cannons,

cannon smoke, leaning buildings, and crowd of people are the subjects that make the abstract art

also figurative.

The medium of Vasily Kandinsky’s artwork, Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons), is a two-

dimensional painting, specifically oil on canvas. Because oil paint was used on the canvas, it

allowed for a wide range of color depth and range, allowing the colors to be mixed and layered

more effectively than other forms of paint, such as acrylic or water-based paints. In addition to

that, oil paint is consistent in color, meaning that when wet and dry, the color of the paint does

not change, making it easier for the artist to predict and create their artwork more easily. In

Vasily Kandinsky’s artwork, he used smooth brush strokes to give the piece a flat look. Above

all, this type of paint takes a long time to dry, allowing the artist to make any changes they feel

are necessary without compromising the piece or having to start over. However, oil paint is very

difficult to blend. This can be seen in Vasily Kandinsky’s artwork, Improvisation No. 30

(Cannons), where the colors are very distinctive in their abstract shaped form and not blended

properly. At most, the colors slightly overlap, even opaque, but do not blend. Over time, the

paint will most likely darken and become yellow. This could be a possibility that has happened

or that the artist was trying to prevent by using darker colors, such as blue and green, on the left

side of the painting and lighter colors, like yellow, on the right side of the painting. Because of

this knowledge, it can be assumed that the piece does not look exactly the same as when it was

painted in 1913, despite the efforts to preserve it (The advantages & disadvantages of Oil Paint).
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I attended the digital collection of the Art Institution of Chicago, where all the pieces can

be viewed online as standalone, not in a virtual museum. I feel this greatly affects how I view the

piece since viewing art online takes away a lot of the texture of the piece and, to an extent, even

the color and age of the piece. However, the formal elements I took note of - color, shapes, and

lines - align with the subject matter, which was an event that was occurring during the time of

the artwork - talk of war in Russia of 1913. The abstract and bright colors were how people were

trying to live their lives at the time; hopeful and light-hearted as best as possible. But very subtly,

there are darker shades and distinctive dark lines that outline objects like a cannon and cannon

smoke, leaning buildings, and a fearful crowd of people, indicating that despite all the acts of

pretending everything is okay, there was great fear that war was a possibility and people had to

prepare for that. The medium of oil paint was an effective way to portray this because of the

inability of the paint to blend properly. This allowed the distinctive features like the cannon and

cannon smoke to stick out rather than seem like another assorted color that defined the painting

as abstract. This also allowed viewers to better interpret the piece and to realize that not only was

the painting Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons) abstract but also figurative.

Questions I had throughout the piece were if war did occur and what was the cause of

war. Many of my questions are like those always regarding war - who was the war against, who

would benefit from it, could it be prevented and how, what precautions did people have to take

during this time, could Vasily Kandinsky have gotten in trouble for making this piece because it

raised more fear? Many of my questions can be answered with a simple google search as this

piece of artwork has a reasonable statement, and the artist’s aims were made clear by the artist

himself as well as the time of 1913 Russia.

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My personal reaction to the piece at first was that it fit perfectly into the formal elements

of art, given that it’s abstract, and honestly, I did not notice the cannon or leaning buildings at

first, nor the crowd of people. I did notice the clouds of smoke but assumed it was part of the

random assortment of lines that didn’t have a deeper meaning. The visual analysis changed my

view of the piece greatly as it brought attention to the time, 1913, and so forth, the cannons in the

bottom right corner. After that, it became clear that the darker lines and shapes make out images

of the real world - crowds of people and buildings. As I researched more and read more, the

piece came together, and I no longer can see it as a simple assortment of colors but as a bright

piece of art that hides a darker and deeper meaning that not many can see at a first glance.

My interpretation of the piece was that Kandinsky feared more than just war, he feared

what life would be like after the war. You can see this through the falling buildings and the

crowd of people, where he doesn’t use solid lines; he uses light, subtle lines. I took this as an

indication that he had prepared his mind for the possibility but didn’t want to act on that fear any

further. The leaning buildings, in hindsight, can be rebuilt and replaced, but it’s the process of

rebuilding an entire city and living in demolished buildings and ash for an extended period, that

Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons) shows.

Through my analysis of Vasily Kandinsky’s Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons), it was

discovered that the formal elements of the oil painting are color, shapes, and lines. The principles

of design the piece demonstrated are variety, emphasis, focal point, and proportion. Despite this

piece being described as abstract in the art world, it is also figurative, which is explained through

the subject matter that corresponds to the contextual analysis of 1913 Russia. Briefly, this

artwork seems like nothing more than splotches of oil on a canvas, but through careful analysis,

it was discovered to be so much more.

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Word Count: 2,499

Proof of Attendance:
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Citation:

“The Advantages & Disadvantages of Oil Paint.” EHow, Leaf Group,

www.ehow.com/list_6910066_advantages-disadvantages-oil-paint.html.

Kandinsky, Vasily. “Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons).” The Art Institute of Chicago,

Modern Art, 1 Jan. 1970, www.artic.edu/artworks/8991/improvisation-no-30-cannons.

Tate. “Abstract Art.” Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/abstract-art.