Olga's Gallery

Wassily Kandinsky was born in Moscow into a merchant family. In 1871 the family moved to Odessa, where his parents soon divorced. The boy was looked after by his aunt. In Odessa Kandinsky studied in a classical gymnasium and had private lessons in music, drawing and painting. In 1886 he returned to Moscow to begin studying law and economics at the Moscow University. While a student, in 1889, he got commissioned by the "Society for Natural Science, Ethnography and Anthropology" to go on a research expedition to Vologda. The strong folk art of northern Russia made a lasting impression on him, and the results of his trip made an impression on the Society, which chose him their member. In 1892 Kandinsky got his Law degree. He became a lecturer at the Moscow University, and married his cousin Anna (Anya) Chimiakina. He pursued his academic career but at the same time paid more and more attention to art. Thus in 1895 he took the post of art director of a publishing house in Moscow. Read Wassily Kandinsky's Full Biography