"I am working again on my painting 'Moscow.' It is slowly taking shape in my imagination. And what was in the realm of wishing is now assuming real forms. What I have been lacking with this idea was depth and richness of sound, very earnest, complex, and easy at the same time."
(Vasily Kandinsky to Gabriele Münter, September 4, 1916, quoted in Hans K. Rothel and Jean K. Benjamin, Kandinsky: Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings, Volume Two, 1916–1944 [Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1984], p. 580)

Vasily Kandinsky (1866–1944). Moscow I (Mockba I), 1916. Oil on canvas, 51.5 x 49.5 cm. The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

In 1914 Germany declared war on Russia, and Kandinsky was forced to leave Munich and return to Moscow. He lamented: “Of the 16 years that I have been living in Germany, I have given myself entirely to the German art world. How am I now suddenly supposed to feel myself a foreigner?” (Vasily Kandinsky to Herwarth Walden, August 2, 1914, quoted in lrike Becks-Malorny, Wassily Kandinsky, 1866–1944: The Journey to Abstraction [Cologne: Taschen, 1999], p. 115). At 50 years old, he was starting a new life.

The move to Moscow marked a profound break. The year 1915 was a time of depression and self-doubt, during which he did not paint a single picture (Becks-Malorny, Wassily Kandinsky, 1866–1944, p. 115.).  In a June 1916 letter to his companion Münter, he wrote: “I felt that my old dream was closer to coming true. You know that I dreamt of painting a big picture expressing joy, the happiness of life and the universe. Suddenly I feel the harmony of colors and forms that come from this world of joy” (Vasily Kandinsky to Gabriele Münter, June 1916, quoted in ibid., p. 118). During this period Kandinsky painted Moscow I (Mockba I, 1916). He wrote, “I would love to paint a large landscape of Moscow—taking elements from everywhere and combining them into a single picture—weak and strong parts, mixing everything together in the same way as the world is mixed of different elements. It must be like an orchestra” (Ibid., p. 115). Moscow I contains some of the same romantic fairy-tale qualities of his early paintings, fused with dramatic forms and colors. “The sun dissolves the whole of Moscow into a single spot, which, like a wild tuba, sets all one’s soul vibrating” (Kandinsky, “Reminiscences,” p. 360).

The October Revolution changed everything. The son of a tea merchant, Kandinsky had been independently wealthy, but after the Russian Revolution, during which a Communist system replaced Czarist rule, he lost his property during a land redistribution. Consequently, his plans to build a large studio took second place to financial concerns such as selling work and finding employment. World War I and then the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 slowed his artistic production, partly due to a lack of funds, but also to his work helping organize art institutions for the newly formed government. In Russia, Kandinsky came into contact with younger avant-garde artists, including Kazimir Malevich (1878–1935) and Alexander Rodchenko (1891–1956), who practiced a more pared-down, reductive form of abstraction. In Russia, Kandinsky’s spiritual approach was out of step with the dominant principles of rationalism and pure geometry. Because of his artistic isolation and wartime privations, Kandinsky left Russia in 1921, never to return again.

• This painting is filled with Kandinsky’s exuberant vision of Moscow. Ask your class to create a list of all the objects that he has packed into this painting.
• Have students create a list of adjectives that describe this work, from which they can then write a poem titled “Kandinsky’s Moscow” that incorporates many of the words from the list. Encourage them to share the poems with the rest of the class. Are they similar or different in tone?
• Ask students how they think Kandinsky felt about Moscow? How was he able to convey those feelings in this painting? Consider the various elements in this work—including the lines, shapes, and colors—and the way they are placed on the canvas. it differ?
• Kandinsky wrote, “I feel the general idea, but the broad composition is not yet clear. At 8 in the evening I went to the Kremlin in order to see the churches from the viewpoint which I need for the picture. And new riches opened up before my eyes” (Vasily Kandinsky to Gabriele Münter, June 4, 1916, quoted in Rothel and Benjamin, Kandinsky: Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil Paintings, Volume Two, p. 580). In books or on the Internet, look for pictures of the Kremlin, a fortress in the center of Moscow that contains government offices and historical architecture. What similarities does the class find between the photographs and the images in Kandinsky’s painting? What are the differences?
• After seeing Kandinsky's vision, ask students if they want to visit Moscow and why or why not.

• The cityscape of Moscow, Kandinsky’s beloved hometown, provided inspiration for more than one of his paintings. Although Moscow I looks quite different from Painting with White Border (Moscow), both works were inspired by Kandinsky’s experience of the city. Compare and contrast these paintings. Students will likely find many differences. Can they find any similarities?
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• Discuss places that hold strong memories and personal associations for your students. Ask each student to recall an experience of such a location and create a work of art, written or visual, that expresses one’s relationship with that site.
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• Many artists have used their affinities with a specific place as a motivation for their work. Research another artist who has used his/her relationship, experiences, or memories of a site to spark creativity. The class can write short essays about the artist and his/her work. Together you can then compile a compendium of artists who have been inspired by places.
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