Color Study: Squares With Concentric Circles

Fond of groovy lines and shapes? If so, chances are you’re into Expressionist and abstract art. Its expressive and downright reflective qualities veered away from traditional modes and subjects of creation. To convey nuances and intricacies, artists and painters during this time greatly invested in and experimented with their use of color and technique. One such artist was Wassily Kandinsky, alongside one of his most renowned artworks, Color Study: Squares with Concentric Circles.

With his masterful use of art, color, and technique, Kandinsky was able to demonstrate the relationships between color and form.

Primarily using watercolor in this particular work, he pushed the boundaries of color and went on to further illustrate how pigments reflect and affect the viewer’s perception and emotions.

Intrigued by this colorful painting by Kandinsky? To find out more about the artist, the meaning of his work, and an analysis of his approach, read on…

Who Is Wassily Kandinsky?

Wassily Kandinsky is a renowned Expressionist painter who participated in the early 20th-century artistic movement. Born in Moscow, Russia, Kandinsky first went on to study and teach law and economics at the University of Moscow.

Despite his failed attempts to enter art school in Munich, Kandinsky soldiered on and learned the art on his own.

Inspired by Claude Monet’s painting, Haystacks, and its masterful and vibrant use of color, Kandinsky left his law career and instead ventured into the arts, later becoming one of the founding fathers of abstract art in the 20th century.

Throughout his artistic career, Kandinsky sought to use color to stimulate a higher sense of being and consciousness.

This can be seen in his participation in the formation of Blue Rider, a group that emphasized the use of color to reflect and awaken emotions.

Blue Rider was reportedly named after Saint George, a popular equestrian often associated with masculinity. The group was founded in 1911 by Franz Marc, a fellow artist.

In his sojourn in the field of abstract painting, Kandinsky still greatly relied on his use of color. No matter how art dictated formality and specificity in the past, this particular artist said that the tones of varying pigments are sometimes similar to music in that they tend to awaken natural and more spiritual and emotional sensibilities.

Discussing Color Study: Squares with Concentric Circles

Wassily Kandinsky’s artwork, Color Study: Squares with Concentric Circles was painted in 1913 using watercolor, gouache, and crayon on paper.

It is touted as one of the most famous works by the artist.

It has 12 distinct sections of squares complete with concentric circles, which means that the rings all share a central point, inside these divisions.

Considered the perfect balance between shape and color, this painting juxtaposes not only different shapes with one another, as exemplified by his use of squares and circles, but also contrasts vibrant colors and their relationships with one another.

Color Study. Squares with Concentric Circles | © Wassily Kandinsky

His use of complementary colors such as blue and orange, analogous hues of red and orange, and triad tones, which incidentally are also primary hues of red, blue, and yellow, are also evident in the painting.

However, the intensity and vibrancy of each pigment vary from one circle to another.

In many ways, the very name of the painting sheds light on the subject. It is a study or an investigation – and an aid that he could use as he worked through other paintings – about how one hue relates to another color.

The artwork, however, evolved into a finished work that is widely acclaimed thanks to its groundbreaking formula.

What Color Study: Squares with Concentric Circles Means

Drawn almost haphazardly, the geometric shapes in the painting take on a natural and organic feel. His use of watercolors and gouache only further this feeling, especially as one watercolor bleeds into another.

This approach also sheds light on Kandinsky’s investigation surrounding the relationship between colors and the effect it has on the viewer.

The artist himself acknowledged that his painting had a dual effect. Upon first glance, spectators would most like be drawn to the physical impact brought about by his use of color.

In a way, this evokes a physical reaction as if colors can be heard as well as seen, which is consistent with synesthesia, meaning having the ability to experience more than one sense at a time.

If you factor in color theory, you know that warmer tones such as red, orange, and yellow are often taken as loud. Meanwhile, colors on the other end of the spectrum are seen as cool and quiet, such as blue and green.

The square shapes also appear to radiate and bleed into the circles within, thereby blurring and overlapping the boundaries of design, shape, and color.

The other effect Kandinsky created was a ‘soul vibration’ of sorts, where the artwork itself – via the artist’s use of color – is able to move past the physical and create an internal connection within the viewer.

The Bottom Line

Kandinsky’s Color Study: Squares with Concentric Circles was undoubtedly ahead of its time. To further appreciate abstract art and the use of color – as well as to gain deeper insights into the varying relationships and emotions evoked by colors – learning about this painting is a must.