Sketch For A Poster For A French Brewery 1906

Wassily Kandinsky made this ‘Sketch For A Poster For A French Brewery’ with, what looks like, gouache or tempera. The way Kandinsky uses these flat blocks of colour makes the whole thing look like a stage set, doesn’t it? I love the way he builds up the layers, like the blue sky that feels both dense and dreamlike. There’s such a wonderful contrast between that rich blue, and the way the gold layer underneath it peeks through. And then there’s the figure of the woman in her white dress, almost floating above this beer garden scene. She's about to pour some beer, of course! You can almost feel the lightness of her gesture, and the spontaneity of the whole image. The way she echoes the cloud shape behind her is so pleasing. It reminds me of other artists playing with commercial imagery, like Stuart Davis. They both were interested in capturing the energy of modern life and I think this piece is a great early example.