Kandinsky Abstract Art Unit {with living literature}

"An empty canvas is a living wonder... far lovelier than certain pictures." ~Wassily Kandinsky 

This little abstract art lesson came about by a little abstract homeschooling...the organic, unplanned kind...the kind that takes you down a rabbit trail and leads you to an unplanned adventure.

The other day, I had big orange-and-yellow themed plans for art. It's fall, after all. But while at the library, we just happened to come upon an eye-catching book that made my art plans take an abrupt detour.

We read the book together and wanted more.

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The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky Abstract Art is a whimsical story about the childhood of Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian-born, 20th century artist credited for painting the first purely abstract work.

Color Study: Squares with Concentric Circles, 1913

Although I had seen prints of Kandinsky's Squares with Concentric Circles, I knew nothing of the artist...his life or his other works.

The children and I were curious...and curiosity is the impetus for REAL learning. So, we went on a hunt and discovered the following things:

• Kandinsky believed that painting was deeply spiritual.
• He thought that music evoked emotion, color, and movement which could be translated through art. 
• His early works were more traditional. But as he began to explore art through music, his paintings became more abstract with bold color and sharp lines. 

After studying the Top 20 Wassily Kandinsky Paintings, we turned on some disjointed sounding classical music and began to create. 

Because it tends to be a more forgiving medium and easier to manipulate for smaller hands, I chose to have the children use chalk pastels for their abstract art instead of paint. Paint needs time to dry and often needs to dry in stages. I didn't want to loose any momentum on their excitement, so I went for fast-and-effective instead of historically accurate. 

We listened intently to the music and let our hands follow the rhythm. 

In the end, we had six abstract works reminiscent of Klandinsky's later works. But most of all, we had a lovely afternoon of abstract learning.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program...orange-and-yellow-for-fall.