Painter, graphic artist, master of applied decorative art and the author and theoretician of abstract art. One of the founders of 20th century avant-garde. Born into a family of 1st guild merchants. Was fascinated with painting and music since his childhood. Until 1896 lived in Odessa and Moscow. In 1885 he entered the law faculty at Moscow University. He wrote his dissertation and was due to take up a post of professor in Derpt (now Tartu). However, he decided instead to devote his life to painting, and went to Munich where he entered the A.Aschbe school (1896). He studied at the Munich Academy of Arts under F. Stuck (in 1900). While in Germany he kept in contact with Russian artists. In 1901 he created the Phalange group (until 1904). From 1906-1908 Kandinsky travelled across Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands. He was fascinated with the ideas of anthroposophy of R.Steiner. In 1910 he wrote a book entitled "The Spiritual in Art" in which he formulated the principles for abstract painting. In 1911 he created the Blue Rider group. His first real creative period occurred between 1908-1910 when he worked in the Murnau township near Munich. From 1915 to1921 he worked in Moscow. In 1918 he became a member of the Izo Narcomprosa college and taught at the All-Russia Art and Technology Workshops. He was head of the monumental art section at the Institute for Art Culture. In 1921 he moved to Germany where he worked in the Bauhaus. When the Nazis closed the Bauhaus in 1933 he moved to Paris. V.V.Kandinsky is the father of abstract painting, the most radical of the avant-garde movements. During the earlier stages of his work he became fascinated with Impressionism and Art nouveau. The influence of Impressionism gave his painting the spontaneity in its colour spots and brush strokes, while Art Nouveau gave his abstract art its graphic culture. Kandinsky’s innovatory studies led to the development in the aesthetics of Symbolism. During the early 1910s the artist produced abstract paintings, which include impressions, improvisations and compositions (Composition No. 7, 1913). Kandinsky renewed the technique of watercolour, engraving, etching and he painted on glass. In 1922 he was invited to teach at the Bauhaus German design school under the leadership of W.Gropius. His experience in teaching was summarised in his theoretical work entitled "The Point and Line on a Plane" (1926), in which he analysed the expressive potential of the initial elements in fine art. The principles of abstract language discovered by the artist provided the foundation for painting and design in the 20th century.