mlk paper
“Black Spot I” by Wassily Kandinsky (1912) A brief formal analysis of the Black Spot I by Wassily Kandinsky (1912) reveals that the black spot in his oil canvas, is the middle ground as well as the central location. I will be analyzing his 100 x 130 cm painting by using the elements and principles of design. The black spot is the focal point of the oil painting because the first thing you see while looking at the oil painting. Kandinsky painted this whole composition with abstract views and is non-objective. This is an abstract style of painting that was based on the non-representational properties of color and form. In the Black Spot, Kandinsky used primarily organic shapes and mostly primary colors but has hints of complementary colors as well. The Black Spot is emphasized by using the hue of black with tint of white, it draws your eyes immediately to it. The composition has actual lines that is supposed to move your eyes all around the picture. In the upper right hand corner is painted with primary colors, yellow and hints of blue. The overlapping of the lines and shapes, makes Kandinsky’s painting have depth. The shading of certain shapes causes the paining to have more depth as well. The Black Spot I has the basic compositional structure of the Diagonality. Psychologically, the diagonality produces unease, tension and a sense of conflict in the painting. Kandinsky’s uses the black spot in the center of the painting which as causes it to become the positive space, therefore, all the cool colors such as yellow are the negative spaces in his painting. In the upper left hand corner of the painting it has darker hues, warm temperatures with contour lines, and it causes a feeling of darkness. As you move to the right side of the painting it starts to lighten up with bright cool hues such as yellow. The painting seems to brighten up as you move along the right, seems less chaotic and has more of a happy feeling. The contour lines moves your eyes right along