Houses at Murnau 1909

Wassily Kandinsky made 'Houses at Murnau' with oil paint sometime in the early 1900s. The colors here are so exciting and so bold; it's like he’s laying down his emotions as much as what he’s seeing. You can almost feel him thinking about colour as a way of expressing joy and vitality. Look at the way Kandinsky applied paint to create shapes in blocks of colour and thick lines. I love how the yellow of the houses pops, but then the shadows are these intense blues that feel so alive. Zoom in and you’ll see how he used the brush in different ways, sometimes dragging it for texture, other times dabbing. It’s almost like the houses are breathing. It makes me think of Matisse, who shared this interest in art as a site of radical expressivity. It all feels very intuitive and free, doesn't it? And isn't that what art is all about?