Wassily Kadinsky was born in 1866 and died in 1944. He was the central figure in the development of 20th century art and the pioneering theorist of abstraction.

This painting by Kadinsky is named "Watercolour No.14" painted in 1913


This painting was made with watercolour paint and ink on paper.
It is very abstracted, as most Kadinsky's works are, It gives me the impression of it being an automatic drawing - where you close your eyes and draw/paint whatever comes into your mind and then open your eyes and work on it. I have recently tried one in class and it is what it reminded me of, I may be wrong. It is expressionism so Kadinsky was expressing what he felt at the time, this painting has a different meaning to everyone as we all think differently so it is hard to tell what it meant to Kadinsky. It seems as if he used the watercolour paint first then worked on the painting with ink to add detail.
In my opinion this painting is very rough and quickly done, however I love the parts there is very light watercolour patches, they make a beautiful delicate and abstracted background.

Now I am going to move on to Otto Dix, another very influential German expressionist.
Otto Dix was German and born in 1891 and died in 1969. Exactly like Wassily Kadinsky he was a painter, printmaker and water-colourist.
Otto Dix was most known especially for his caustic portraits of post war German society.

This painting by Otto Dix is titled "The Nun" painted in 1914.

This painting was done by the use of oil paint on cardboard.
This painting is reflecting on the emotions of a nun during the start of World War 1. Presumably influenced by Cubism as of the edgy head wear- it looks like it is painted from different viewpoints just like in Cubism. The bright vibrant colours are really expressing strong emotions in the nuns face, emotions of fear, hopelessness and grief. The figure on the right of the nuns face appears to be a thought that the nun is having, either a memory or a thought of someone close to her. The left side of her face is however hard to make out but I would assume that it is an expression of what is on her mind. Otto Dix seems to have gathered influence from the Fauvist movement due to the effect that the colour scheme shows, giving the portrait a wild beast look.