Picture with an Archer

1906–1908

Years of travel across Europe; the Blue Rose

From 1906 to 1908 Kandinsky travelled a great deal across Europe, was an associate of the Moscow symbolist group the Blue Rose, and then settled in the small Bavarian town of Murnau.

1908–1909

“Thought-Forms” and the Theosophical Society

In 1908 Kandinsky bought a copy of “Thought-Forms” by Annie Besant and Charles Webster Leadbeater, and in 1909 he joined the Theosophical Society.

1909

President of the Neue Künstlervereinigung München

Kandinsky helped found the Neue Künstlervereinigung München and became its president. The group dissolved in late 1911: it could not reconcile the radical approach of Kandinsky and others with conventional ideas of art.

1910–1911

The treatise “Concerning the Spiritual in Art”

The treatise defended and promoted abstract art and affirmed that all forms of art are equally capable of reaching spirituality; colour in a painting can be autonomous, apart from the depiction of an object. Kandinsky distinguished three kinds of painting: impressions, improvisations and compositions.

1911

The birth of the Blue Rider

After the earlier association dissolved Kandinsky formed the Blue Rider with August Macke, Franz Marc, Albert Bloch and Gabriele Münter. The group issued an almanac and held two exhibitions; the war ended further plans.

1911

His first solo exhibition

His first solo exhibition took place in the same years, when the Blue Rider was being born.