Don’t miss the exhibit World War I and the Rise of Modernism at the Nelson Atkins. Kansas Citians are given a rare opportunity to see the Wassily Kandinsky’s masterpiece Sketch for Composition II on loan from the Guggenheim in New York. Both the pastel and watercolor classes that I attended at the Nelson emphasized this work and the exhibit as a whole. I don’t know how curator Jan Stahl pulled it off but I am in heaven. This painting has been my favorite Kandinsky for years. I can still remember the first time I saw it in New York it took my breath away. Twice a week after class I make the trek from the Ford Learning Center to the exhibit galleries where I swoon at the colors and the images dazzle my eyes. I think I must be the luckiest woman in the world. The most exciting thing about that painting is that each time I view it I find things that I have missed on prior visits.
One of our assignments in the pastel class was to sketch a section of a painting or other works of art in the exhibit. Of course I choose the Kandinsky. Here are my humble offerings. Please note I did take liberties with the white horse and painted it that intense blue that is used throughout the painting.
