Page 186 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Byzantine Painting through Contemporary Eyes
Accordingly, when we compare the theme of Transfiguration without human figures (image 6) to the theme of The Numbering at Bethlehem without human figures (image 9), we observe that by excluding the human forms depicted within these compositions, we arrive at a visual result which strikingly reminds us of the prime examples of 20th centu- ry abstract painting. Of course, the outcome of our demonstration does not in itself con- stitute a proof that Kandinsky and Rothko necessarily had Byzantium in mind when they rendered their earlier mentioned works. Rather, this demonstration primarily im- plies that these two significant painters of the 20th century attempted, through their ab- stract contemplations, to reconstruct the human presence and they have therein arrived at a result which is reminiscent of a Byzantine-like absolute treatment of colour. That said, our visual demonstration constitutes an indication that the Byzantine influences which these modern painters have in fact noted in regards to their work, were deeply rooted in their artistic experience, which is why it was plausible for these influences to appear in a creative manner in their abstract painting. We extensively discuss the Byzantine influ- ences in the works of Kandinsky and Rothko in separate chapters of this book.
Kandinsky’s knowledge and appreciation of Byzantine and Russian iconography is very well known. Also, in 1931 Kandinsky visited Egypt, Turkey, Greece, and Italy,10 where he had an opportunity to see many representative examples of Byzantine art. Given this, one cannot dismiss the likelihood that such possible experiences have signif- icantly contributed to Kandinsky’s already existent Russian-Byzantine experience tran- substantiating and becoming one of the key aesthetic idioms in the abstract language of his painting. We do not know whether Kandinsky visited Mistra during his stay in Greece. Nevertheless, we shall visually demonstrate how one of the last of Kandinsky’s works aesthetically relates to the tendency towards abstraction observed in a 14th centu- ry fresco in Mistra. The comparison at hand aims at exemplifying how that which Kan- dinsky inherited specifically from the aesthetics of Late Byzantine painting and embod- ied within his abstract style, is precisely the inner desire to transcend the merely material realm of existence.
Among Kandinsky’s scientific and artistic interests were studies of microorganisms. The biomorphic forms depicted in his painting Sky Blue (image 12) appear to be floating on the surface of the canvas; there is no comprehensible perspective, nor a sense of grav- ity. These forms are decorative not because Kandinsky aspired to simply decorate the blue background, but rather, their decorative character is only one of the externally most
10 Ulrike Becks-Malorny, Kandinsky (Taschen, 2007), 195–196. 184