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1913

Watercolor, gouache and crayon on paper

9.4 × 12.4" (23.8 × 31.4 cm)

Munich, The St?dtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus

Squares with Concentric Circles (Farbstudie - Quadrate und konzentrische Ringe), perhaps, Kandinsky's most recognizable work, is not actually a full-fledged picture. This drawing is a small study on how different colour combinations are perceived that the painter used in his creative process as a support material.

For Kandinsky, colour meant more than just a visual component of a picture. Colour is its soul. In his books, he described his own perspective on how colours interacted with each other and with the spectator in detail and very poetically. Moreover, Kandinsky was a synaesthete, i.e. he could 'hear colours' and 'see sounds.'

So, this is probably righteous that after a century, it is not one of his compositions - which he himself considered as his main achievements - but this small drawing that has become one of Kandinsky's most popular works.

PS: Interestingly, by arranging circles in such manner, the painter unconsciously created a piece of art in the Serial Imagery technique (e.g. Andy Warhol's famous Marilyn Diptych).

More from 1913

59 comments

nolan : I like how all the circles are different, and i think they all stand for something different. i also like how he used his own ideas and put the in to a panting.

Nadia: first of all, to everyone who is saying things like "This is not art" or "A child did this" you are all fools. Art doesn't have to be detailed and mouth dropping. Art comes from the heart, not from other peoples opinions. like the original painter Kandinsky says "Everything starts with a dot." Art is amazing, and I know if it WAS a kid who did this, it would be a VERY different state of opinion.So, all in all, I love it. And if the creator sees this, don't give up on showing your side of life.

im mister carrot: i love his art its amazing

tessie: Like it, hate it, doesn't matter, someone just purchased this for $25 million.

Anne: For all those who do not understand the purpose of a "study" please do not undertake to judge the quick watercolor sketches/studies JMW Turner painted to catch a landscape.

Bob from kindle: Amazing art

Eamo lad legend : Its a color study not an intended finished piece, I don't like the appearance but you cannot deny his studies involving the literal fact he can HEAR colors,, of course hes gonna play with that.

joe: I have read the comments about this artist and I am sad that anyone would say this is childs art. Yes, it has a child like play yet the artist shares his reason and communicates through color. If you are wise and knowledgable about art you can find his reasoning through each painting. Ignorance is when someone speculates without investigation and not to understand this artist lets me think that the person doesn't know the color wheel. If you know the color wheel and you look at these studies you can see clearly that he has an agenda. He wanted to know how colors worked together and how they effected the eyes or a persons mood. He was a master of his art and brave to focus on just color and its effects. .

Julian: Why are people getting mad and insulting this man's art? His art is very unique and should not be treated poorly.

JENNY: this is a great website to study colours and learn about them too.

Carmelo: The important thing of this tipe a paintings is that they are made from within....... nothing else really matters....

Lilli: I like it. A lot. Haters just arent getting lost in the color theory and abstract magic of it all! I say to you

James: This is rubbish, it doesn't make sense. I don't understand the liking in this.

erin: its funny how people are so mad at a color study

A schoolboy who has no public name: I am doing an artist study on Kandinsky and, to all the commenters who say "a child could do this" or something, I am a child and I appreciate this colour study. I am doing something that you don't seem to have done: realise that a) Kandinsky made this originally for private use so it is to some extent made to be messy and b) it is a colour study not a full piece of art. Maybe you should rethink your mindset.

chanya: All of the pictures make me feel joyfull.

Bralyn Wiswell: Love the different colors in the picture

Ted tong: I'm doing this for homeschooling coz of lockdown and it is really hard can someone tell me what tools and techniques he used.

Montarop Yamabhai: Hey I am the one who drew this picture! I copy from the original just for fun, then I think I posted in on my fb and many other places. Interesting that it is ended up here. Can you really make money out of it? Maybe I can have a new career out of this kind of art :).

sok linda vatanak: the circle make me feel happy

Cath: Anyone saying this looks like a child did it needs to sit down and recreate just one of Kandinsky's squares with paint. I've been doing that with acrylic, and each square takes about an hour to finish. Until you try it, you have no idea how much goes into blending colors, shading and composition. Making things look simple/easy is one of the hallmarks of a real artist.

artist @ skool: i dont understand why you have to be mean. yea a child could have drawn a bunch of circles but its not just a bunch of circles and its still art and i think that its wonderful. goodbye xx

Frankie: His work is just amazing!

X: I absolutely adore this art. I am currently doing a project in art class to copy the style of him. I am not recreating one of his works. I'm going to be making a picture from his style.

Caryn: What's wrong with art done by children? Using that as an insult is ridiculous.

someone gone unmentioned: this is beautiful but it hurts my eyes ;.;

Karen: Saying a child could have done this is missing the point. Kandinsky did it for himself as a visual reference.

Imagine that when planning out her first book, J K Rowling wrote a list of Harry Potter's features eg black hair, glasses, and a list of adjectives. That list would probably sell for a fair bit of money, and be prized by its owner. To say "A child could have written that list" would be true but the list is special not because it's an amazing list in itself, but because it shows the inner mind workings of a master, who created something incredible.

If you hate this painting and think it is talentless then fair enough... Just don't ever go on a trip to a modern art gallery as you will see things far simpler than this.

Anyone COULD have done this -- but they didn't.

coolkid001: woah! thats some art right there! so many circles!
truly a revelation!
its like ive never seen a circle like this before!
woah!

bsllileieiih: He must have been a genius

Amy: I have read the comments about this artist and I am sad that anyone would say this is childs art. Yes, it has a child like play yet the artist shares his reason and communicates through color. If you are wise and knowledgable about art you can find his reasoning through each painting. Ignorance is when someone speculates without investigation and not to understand this artist lets me think that the person doesn't know the color wheel. If you know the color wheel and you look at these studies you can see clearly that he has an agenda. He wanted to know how colors worked together and how they effected the eyes or a persons mood. He was a master of his art and brave to focus on just color and its effects. .

Charlie: This is great art never seen anything like this!

potato: i dont like it to be honest. it is really simple and anyone can draw different coloured circles

Leone Brennan: I am completely drawn to this painting. Maybe because it is so childlike, but I just love the colours.

AR: Many people are commenting on the fact that a child could have done this. This is, to anyone with eyes, true however it is not for the aesthetics that this colour study is so famous, but for its significance. This study was an essential element of Kardinsky's creative process: and it gives us as those who still view his work today an interesting and unique insight into the head of such an incredible man.That is why it's famous.

SD: Terrible Painting, nothing that a kid can do an art project on. Study DaVinci instead.

Robert Paige: TOTAL WORK OF ART...6

Natalie: He is my favorite. His work is absolutely mind boggling to me.

Samanthalouise Nunn: great picture

D. E.: How about those of us with a great knowledge of art who realize that a child COULD have done this? It's a colour study. It is not a complete work. It is not a great composition, and was likely done on the fly. A sketch or doodle playing with colour. It is a simple study, done for himself. You or I or a child or anyone CAN do this exact same thing, and it will be just as valid and meaningful.
You may love the work, and you may instill your own meanings connected to it, but that doesn't make anyone else ignorant, or mean that their opinion is less valid. That's the beauty of art, it connects (or not) to each person on their own level. It is not yours (or mine) to define for others. If it is that to you? Then you're missing the point of art completely. And please don't try to teach children that it should mean whatever you see in it. Teach them how colors go together, sure, but don't ruin them by insisting things must be one way, or that their own work and experiments are any less valid than a color study by a dead guy with a name that you personally like. That would be offensive.
If a work has to be explained to be understood? Then the work itself fails. If you have to insist that a work has a certain meaning because you think it does? Then you fail.

Liza: I do wish people who have no knowledge of art would refrain from making stupid comments like, "a child could have done this." Educate yourselves people and if you don't have anything positive or enlightening to say then just don't.

Kandinsky was an amazing colourist. His compositions are simply inspired. Personally he is one of my favourite artists and I have referenced his work when teaching my primary and secondary school students so that they too can be inspired by a master.

Some body: This is NOT art, in my opinion. If I had to guess the age that someone drew this, I would say 7.

Justin Tanner from Latta: Why this is just circules ive got to do an art project on this

bob from kit: amazing art wish i had some of it

Tyler Jeffers from New Jersey: This looks like a 2 year old made this

Anastasia from Yugoslavia: breathtaking

lola garcia from mexico: what´s mean the colors and the figures to this picture?

Someone from somwhere: I like the piece

MangaQueen02 from Luffyland: What is this art piec by Kandinsky called? Please help.

Chad: Is this oil on canvas?

Morgan Mquire from Southampton: I agree with you adam i would love to create a piece like this

Adam Comber from Southampton: Like the use of harmonious colours within certain squares and contrast in others.

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Wassily Kandinsky - Color Study. Squares with Concentric Circles, 1913

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Squares with Concentric Circles (Farbstudie - Quadrate und konzentrische Ringe), perhaps, Kandinsky's most recognizable work, is not actually a full-fledged picture. This drawing is a small study on how different colour combinations are perceived that