Comparative analysis of musicality in the works of Kandinsky and Zhu Dequn

Tan Haitian ORCID: 0009-0004-2640-7965 Postgraduate student, Department of Semiotics and General Theory of Art, Lomonosov Moscow State University 109052, Russia, Moscow, Leninskie Gory str., GSP-1 t89993369253t@yandex.ru

Introduction

At the beginning of the 20th century, China was influenced by new European art theories, among which the ideas of Vasily Kandinsky, the founder of abstract expressionism, had a significant impact on the development of abstract art in China.

Vasily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was an artist of Russian origin and worked in Central Europe, in particular in Germany, where he reached his apogee both in painting and in artistic creativity. Considered the founder of abstract art, Kandinsky is exceptionally often mentioned in discussions about early abstract painting, especially in those related to music ^{[1, p. 132]}. According to composer Gerard McBurney, the idea of music is manifested in Kandinsky's paintings everywhere. He believed that shades resonate with each other, creating visual "chords" and influencing the soul ^{[2, p. 28]}.

For Wassily Kandinsky, music and color were inextricably linked to each other. This connection was so obvious that Kandinsky associated each note with a specific shade. He once said: "The sound of colors is so definite that it is difficult to find a person who would express a bright yellow color with bass notes or a dark lake with high frequencies" ^{[3, p. 113]}. Music played an important role in the development of Kandinsky's abstract paintings. One of the sources of inspiration was the famous Viennese composer Arnold Schoenberg. Schoenberg abandoned tonal and harmonic conventions in his compositions, just as Kandinsky abandoned a figure or recognizable object in favor of shapes, lines and discordant colors in his work. He used color, lines, shape and texture to create a rhythmic visual experience that evokes an emotional response. It is not surprising that Kandinsky gave many of his paintings musical names, for example, "Composition" or "Improvisation".

Kandinsky's musical-pictorial analogy was largely based on the correlation of color and musical sound. Based on the opinion of Paul Cezanne that "Color is the place where our mind and the universe meet" ^{[4, p. 45]}, Kandinsky extended this principle to all forms of sensory perception, in the spirit of synthetism. The belief that color has its own tonal quality led Kandinsky to take his pictorial motifs out of an objective context and devote himself to a more radical study of color-musical correspondences. To release the inner power of color, Kandinsky considered it as a musical note and chose color by analogy with musical harmony ^{[5, p. 65]}.

Zhu Dequn, an outstanding representative of Chinese abstract art, was educated in France, where he mastered the methods of abstract painting and developed his artistic vision based on Kandinsky's theoretical perception of music. The article provides a thorough analysis of the impact of musicality on abstract painting in the works of Zhu Dequn and Kandinsky, examines the importance of Kandinsky's theories for the insights of modern Chinese artists, and examines the process of formation and evolution of abstract painting by modern Chinese masters.

The object of the study is Musicality in the works of Chinese artist Zhu Dequn.

The purpose of the study is to study the influence of Kandinsky's theory of art on musicality in Zhu Dequn's art paintings.

The main part

Zhu Dequn is an outstanding figure of Chinese abstractionism. He was born in 1920 in Anhui Province, China, and received a high-quality education. When Zhu Dequn first arrived in Paris in 1955, he was faced with a period of dominance of abstract art. At that time, French abstract painting had already passed the stages of Kandinsky's abstract expressionism, Mondrian's neoplasticism, Malevich's suprematism and Pollock's abstract expressionism. Before his arrival in Paris, Zhu Dequn had no opportunity to see these trends, and he acutely felt the deep difference between Eastern and Western art. During his studies, he also carefully studied Kandinsky's theories of abstract painting, focusing on the expression of inner feelings and emotions. Moreover, Zhu Dequn became imbued with Kandinsky's theory of the importance of color, which led him to understand the expressive functions of color in modern painting ^{[6, p. 75]}.

At the same time, Zhu Dequn enriched his works with many unique elements characteristic of Chinese culture. From the point of view of theory and practice of painting, Zhu Dequn has improved his skills over the years, actively experimenting with the combination of various colors, techniques of traditional Chinese calligraphy and literary poetry to create a unique visual experience.

In his essay, he talks about the influence of Kandinsky on his work: "Chinese painting focuses on literacy, and, as Kandinsky put it, abstract artists also focus on the spirit, the mind, the inner essence. That's why I think the most important thing in abstract painting is the artist's imagination." He emphasizes that the development of imagination should be based on the expression of the main expressive forces of painting and on the cultivation of knowledge and literature so that the paintings are meaningful” ^{[7, p. 105.]}.

Zhu Dequn's artistic theory is in many ways similar to that of V. V. Kandinsky. In the field of abstract art, Kandinsky proposed unique innovations in the expression of color, structure and form of works. Zhu Dequn, being under the noticeable influence of Kandinsky, tried to combine Western music with the rhythms of Chinese calligraphy, giving his works a deeper meaning. Kandinsky's concept is based on a comprehensive approach to painting and art in general. According to Kandinsky's theory, various types of art, whether painting, music or dance, despite their peculiarities in artistic performance or form, are united by a common goal – expressing the needs of the spirit, seeking inspiration, improving feelings, mood and emotions. In Kandinsky's theoretical system, art is represented in the form of a triangular pyramid, at the top of which is music, which directly expresses the soul and inner spirit of the artist. Painters and musicians, in fact, do the same thing – they strive to express the "inner spirit". Kandinsky once put it: "An artist who sees no purpose even in artistic imitation of natural phenomena is a creator who wants and must express his inner world. He enviously sees how naturally and easily this is achieved by music, which nowadays is the most material of all the arts. It is clear that he turns to her and tries to find the same means in his own art" ^{[8, p. 53]}.

Naturally, in his work he preferred the musical method, which led to the creation of works with rhythmic painting, mathematical and abstract structure, polyphony of color and a modern desire to give color movement. Zhu Dequn's art of painting is characterized by an integrated approach that combines the features of Chinese ancient poetry, calligraphy and painting with the principles of Western abstractionism. His works are distinguished by the synthesis of Chinese and Western cultures, which allows the artist to reflect Eastern ideas and philosophy using Western techniques, thereby forming a unique artistic language. Traditional Chinese culture and art, such as calligraphy, painting and poetry, have had a significant impact on Zhu Dequn's work, contributing to the formation of a unique combination of Western and Chinese traditions in his works.

Kandinsky and Zhu Dequn find common ground in painting, arguing that abstract form is a key means of expressing an image, and this must be taken into account when creating any work. Kandinsky attached special importance to symbolic expression through dots, lines and planes, which can convey a variety of ideas and meanings depending on the way they are used. The shape of his abstract paintings reflects the essence of the form. Zhu Dequn uses the expressive power of light in his works, mixing dots, lines and planes into a light-color scale, harmoniously combining them and creating an expressive hidden meaning in his unique color and calligraphic language ^{[9, c 9]}.

Zhu Dequn, in the course of his work, carefully studied how Western impressionists used light to achieve a pictorial effect, creating an impression of blurriness and airiness and making the image structure dynamic. The artist enriches his paintings with a variety of spatial layers, a combination of matter and light, creating a particularly saturated atmosphere and filling the works with deep Chinese poetic motifs. Kandinsky also tried to conduct a systematic study of the language of modern plastic arts with the joint participation of plastic artists, literary critics and musicians in order to create a set of general and complete theoretical principles suitable for all types of artistic creativity ^{[10, p. 9]}.

This is how he achieves the full expression of his creative idea, allowing viewers to experience the work more deeply and think about its content. Zhu Dequn achieved mastery by combining elements of both Western and Chinese art in his work, preventing them from merging together.

For example, in his large-scale work "Rhythm of Rebirth", the use of bright, life-affirming colors and the presence of the artist's musicality are noticeable. This painting was chosen for the decoration of the Shanghai Bolshoi Theater. The artist himself said: "This work took several months, and every time I started writing, I listened attentively to Beethoven's idyllic symphony, finding inspiration for painting in music" (Fig.1).

Under the influence of music, Zhu Dequn's works are created with continuously changing images and colors, like a symphony, where various colors merge, and the unique colors of oriental aesthetics enhance the feeling of musicality. The contrasts between light and shadow in his paintings work like rhythms in a musical composition.

In his work "Pacification" (Fig.2), written in the 50s of the XX century, the artist demonstrates to the audience a keen sense of dynamics and airiness, using a variety of dot symbols and vividly presenting various shades of green. Although the artist does not use clearly defined points and lines, he creates the impression that the shape and structure of these elements are tangible. Thus, Zhu Dequn reveals his emotions and skills in his works.

Zhu Dequn's works in adulthood differ from both traditional Chinese painting and Western abstract painting. These works combine the spontaneity of traditional Chinese literary painting and musical motifs characteristic of Kandinsky's work ^{[11, p.23]}.

Zhu Dequn "The Rhythm of Rebirth" (Fig.1)

Zhu Dequn "Pacification" (fig. 2)

Zhu Dequn's paintings are the embodiment of the accumulated experience of depicting nature and life. This experience enriched the author with imaginative material. He has a love for nature, for life, for his culture, which, thanks to his skill, fills the works with feelings and emotions. The experiences are concentrated in a compact space of paintings, where the contrast of light and the collision of colors explode, dragging the viewer in and giving him the joy of contemplation.

Zhu Dequn's approach perfectly reflects his understanding of the meaning of life. In the works where V. V. Kandinsky's linguistic expressions are used, such as signs, shapes and planes, the problems that arise when teaching art are solved in Kandinsky's theoretical concepts and become understandable through the analysis of his works. Zhu Dequn focuses on reflecting the spirit, culture and emotions using a variety of colors.

In relation to the musical art, Zhu Dequn learned a lot from V. V. Kandinsky, where the artist seeks to synthesize both directions of art. In his works, he focuses on the rhythmic and melodic structure of musical works, thus adding a musical element to his abstract work and enriching it with musical aesthetics.

Conclusion

To sum up, it can be said that under the influence of Kandinsky's theory, Zhu Dequn is more musical in his abstract paintings. Despite the fact that Zhu Dequn was not very experienced in music theory and performance, he could accurately capture the melody and rhythm of instruments such as traditional Chinese guzheng, as well as feel the light and color created by a musical composition. Zhu Dequn turned out to be a talented researcher of Western painting theory, achieving outstanding success in this regard, as well as allowing the world to know itself and play an important educational role in the upbringing and education of Chinese artists. Zhu Dequn achieved outstanding artistic success as a result of his many years of research and became an internationally renowned abstract artist who created a unique creative path.

His artistic practice and achievements serve as a revelation for Chinese artists who seek to explore the path of combining Chinese and Western painting, and are also a valuable example for the exchange and development of Chinese and Western culture and art.