1. Wassily Kandinsky 1866-1944

3. The Founder of Abstract Art Wassily Kandinsky took music and art lessons as a child in Russia, but he did not become a professional artist until he was 30 years old. He gave up his job as a law professor and moved to Germany to study art. In those days, people thought that a drawing or painting had to look like its subject – the more realistic the better. The Impressionist painters started to paint pictures that didn’t look exactly real. Kandinsky was the first artist to take the final step away from realism: he painted the first totally abstract pictures, paintings that were pure designs, and believed that colors and forms had meanings on their own. He was a musician as well and thought of colors as music.

4. Music & Art Watch this video showing the music within Kandinsky’s artwork. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d63qohWJ- o&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d63qohWJ- o&feature=related

5. Yellow-Red-Blue

6. Several Circles

7. Composition VIII

8. Composition IX

9. Watch how one person added movement http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBwQrnEfhTk&fe ature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBwQrnEfhTk&fe ature=related

10. It’s Your Turn – Try This

11. Now try this – How many circles can you fit on a page?

12. Squares with Concentric Circles

13. Your Project 1. 1.Start with a 9" x 12" paper, and fold it in half; and then in thirds so that you have 2 rows of 3 squares. 2. 2. Using oil pastels, make a circle in the middle of each square fill it in. Then they gradually add rings of different colors around it, some thick and some thin until they reach the edge of the square. The corners are filled in as needed. 3. 3. Continue until all the squares are filled in. Remember - slow, solid coloring is going to look much better than quick scribbles. 4. 4.4th and 5th graders are challenged to use different color theme in each square. For example: warm colors, cool colors, neutral colors, complementary colors, etc.