Around the Circle - Wassily Kandinsky

A late-period abstract work by Wassily Kandinsky, featuring geometric and biomorphic forms floating against a deep green background.

Around the Circle, painted in 1940, belongs to the later period of Wassily Kandinsky's career. During this time, the artist resided in Paris, where his work shifted towards a more biomorphic and playful vocabulary. The composition is set against a deep, dark green background, which provides a stable field for the various geometric and organic forms to float across the surface.

Central to the work is a large, red circular motif, which acts as a gravitational anchor for the surrounding elements. Kandinsky populates the space with a variety of shapes: chequered patterns, serrated edges, and small, amoeba-like figures. These forms appear to drift or orbit, suggesting a sense of movement within a cosmic or microscopic environment. The artist employs a precise, controlled application of paint, with clear outlines defining each shape. This clarity contrasts with the more fluid, spontaneous style of his earlier expressionist works.

Kandinsky often sought to create a visual language that functioned like music, where shapes and colours corresponded to specific emotional or intellectual states. In this piece, the interplay between the rigid geometry and the softer, more irregular forms creates a balanced tension. The palette is varied, incorporating soft pastels alongside bolder tones, all held together by the dominant dark ground. This work demonstrates the artist's continued exploration of non-objective art, where the subject matter is not a representation of the physical world, but an arrangement of pure form and colour. The painting remains a clear example of his late-period style, where he refined his earlier theories into a more decorative and precise visual system.