The Love Life of Wasily Kandinsky


 Spent some time at the Pompidou Center today with a few other vaccinated people.  They are holding a retrospective of the work of Georg Baselitz.  I was not familiar with Georg.  Come to find out, his paintings are remarkable.  I started out on the 5th floor visiting with all our faves:  Matisse, Kandinsky, Chagall, Cornell, Tanguy, Delaunay and Delaunay, Modigliani, Miro, Klee.  I know I'm leaving people out, so forgive me, Artists.  Then I found my way up to the sixth floor to see Baselitz.  The ticket taker said I got the wrong kind of ticket and couldn't come in to the exhibit.  I exhaled an exasperated, whining groan and she said, "Do you want to see this?  Go on in." WooHOO. Groans and whines get the job done once again. 

Georg loves his wife Elke and he has painted some beautiful and fun pictures of the two of them together.  One painting/collage has them wearing actual panty hose. 

In the afternoon I got to wondering about the loves of the artists I love.  I read about Wasily Kandinsky's love life.  He married a woman named Anna and they were doing fine.  But then he met a student artist named Gabrielle Munter and they had a long term affair, but WK didn't feel like leaving his wife.  Munter was an incredible artist and she did a lot to support WK, but he just wouldn't commit.  Munter was often embarrassed because people threw her shade because she wasn't married.  Finally WK divorced his wife, but he still wouldn't go with Munter.  Instead he married another woman 27 years his junior, whose name was Nina.  Munter was brokenhearted and angry as all get out.  She wouldn't give WK back his paintings, but that ended up being a good thing because she took care of them and hid them from the Nazis.  After the war, she gave most of them back.  I love the work of WK, but I wish he could have stayed with Munter.  She loved him very much. 

Comments

Mitzi Lewison said…
I know it shouldn't surprise me, but being able to see such amazing art nearly any time you want is such a gift. Did not know about Kandinsky's love life. Thanks for the info.
KC said…
These people have much more tumultuous love lives than I do!
Janet said…
Well, Kandinsky too... another example of needing to separate the artist from the art. He sounds like kind of an ass, but I am sure it was a very complicated situation, so I should not jump to conclusions.

Popular Posts