Critical Analysis of Schweres Rot by Wassily Kandinsky

This is a critical analysis of an oil painting by Wassily Kandinsky (1186-1944). In this passage I will touch on the major elements of a painting: Content, Balance, Color, Line, and Space.

Content

When looking at a painting it is seen differently through the eyes of someone else. It has been said that every guess made about the painting is wrong and the creator is the only one who sees it right. With Kandinsky’s piece Schweres Rot the first thing that came to my mind was it was to portray a city. The painting is filled with the brightest of all colors while darker colors spread about the piece create contrast. There are circles of different shapes and sizes floating on the top of the left hand corner to the bottom right hand corner. Also there is a triangle wedge pointing at a circle. Lines fly from the top middle of the painting to the triangle wedge which resembles a bridge like quality. This piece is merely made up of shapes and which all are different sizes and colors which complement each other nicely.

Balance

I examined that the focal point of the paint is at the top middle. All the shapes seem to be released from this point or headed in that direction. The muddle of the shapes on the left hand side are balanced out by the circles and the golden triangle wedge popping in on the opposite side. The strings and what seems like a hidden paintbrush keeps everything look as if they’re rising toward space. This makes for a balanced painting.

Color

The Hues which Kandinsky used in this piece are various greens, various blues, various oranges, various browns, red orange, golden yellow, yellow, purple and black. The reds and oranges create a warming affect while the blues cool it down a bit. Allowing colors complements together initially brightens each color. The green triangle in the center of the painting is surrounded by white spaces and circles which makes this the attention grabber. This is so because the white contrasts with the red orange of the background and the green of the triangle. Mostly everything in this piece looks flat but there are some shapes that look as if they could be three dimensional.

Line

In this piece I have found soft, rounded, diagonal, straight and harsh lines. The straight lines are all throughout the painting. The curved tend to stay closer to the top. As for the diagonal lines, they appear by the corners of the painting. The pressure applied to the paintbrush leaves either a soft or harsh appearance. With little pressure you see a very broken barely noticeable line. With harsh lines they are easy to spot because they are bold and noticeable because they are meant to stick out from the background.

Space

I noticed that the objects in this painting are basically scattered among the painting until desired liking. Everything is spaced out well enough to show how efficiently the space is being used. Although a viewer might suggest there are many shapes clumped to one side there are other objects on the other side that help the piece. I would say the shapes in this painting represent real life things. More so a bridge, people, buildings, water, space, fire, and a cliff can all be depicted even if the resemblance is way off.