Study on Improvisation No. 2 1909

Wassily Kandinsky painted this Study on Improvisation No. 2 without specifying a date, using oil on canvas. I see the way Kandinsky laid down paint with a full brush, almost as if he's sculpting with colour. There is a real tactile quality to this piece. Look at the way he builds up these vibrant greens and blues, dragging the brush across the canvas, and leaving these visible ridges of paint. It gives the painting a real sense of depth and movement, like the whole scene is alive. There is something so optimistic about his mark-making, a playful energy and immediacy. The colour palette is really striking. In the lower left corner of the canvas, the orange and red ground meets a rider on horseback. There's a real confidence in the application of these colors, in their juxtaposition, and the way Kandinsky lets them vibrate against each other. He understood the power of ambiguity and trusted the process. Kandinsky reminds me of Guston, both so open to the endless potential of painting.