Katsuo Suzuki, Curator

Suzuki received his MA in art history from the University of Tokyo and has worked at MOMAT since 1998, specialising in modern and contemporary art of Japan and the West. I interviewed him by email in 2002 for an article about a Kandinsky exhibition that I was writing for the Asahi Shimbun International Herald Tribune. The sourcing of all the paintings from Russia could be seen as part of Putin's early attempt at cultural power projection. 

 

Liddell: It must have been possible to have got some Kandinskys from Japan or the West. Why are all the paintings from Russian museums?

 

Suzuki: This exhibition was organized with active support from the Tretyakov Gallery, as well as Prof. Dmitry Sarabianov, to introduce Japanese audiences to the rich collections of Kandinsky’s work in the Russian museums, especially featuring “Composition VI,” “Composition VII,” and the artist’s Russian period. Besides, this project has also an aspect of promoting the cultural exchanges between two countries. That is why all the works in this exhibition are borrowed from Russia.

 

Liddell: In his earlier work, how much was Kandinsky's  abstract tendency strengthened by his desire to express colour in the manner of the Fauvists? Was this the origin of his non-representational art?

Suzuki: It was important for Kandinsky to find the strength of colour itself released from local colour in order to step forward to painting consisting of independent pictorial means. Colour and form. The question “What is the origin?” is sometimes difficult to answer. It is true that Fauvism had some effect on Kandinsky’s painting and might be a stimulus for his abstract painting. But I can’t say it is the origin of his non-representational art.

 

Liddell: Was Kandinsky trying to achieve total freedom of form or total freedom from form?

 

Suzuki: I can’t fully understand what you mean by the words "total freedom of/from form"” with regard to his paintings. Kandinsky was trying to conceal the form of the objects to enhance their "inner sound." But he didn’t do it completely, and left some remnants in his most paintings at this stage. In any case, it is without saying that he was very much concerned about the effect of the form within his painting.

 

Liddell: Although he escaped from conventional forms, Kandinsky had to substitute new abstract forms -- clusters, groupings, nodes, crisscrossing lines, etc.

 

Suzuki: Yes. He continued to create a new painterly vocabulary. 

 

Composition VII (1913)

Liddell: From the titles it is clear that some pictures are intended to work like music. To what extent was he successful in this?

 

Suzuki: “Some pictures are intended to work like music” is your subjective impression. So, “To what extent was he successful in this?” should be answered by yourself.

 

Liddell: Was Kandinsky trying to create pictures that caused an initial sensation of disharmony, followed by a subsequent sense of harmony? That is, at first, the viewer is overwhelmed and perhaps confused, but with continued viewing, a deeper harmony arises. Which pictures best exemplify this phenomenon?

 

Suzuki: He said that "opposites and contradictions - this is our harmony." According to this remark, seeming "disharmony" of his paintings is what he called "harmony." I think ”Composition VII” is one of the best.

 

Liddell: Abstract art is widely considered confusing and ‘difficult.’ How do you recommend the common viewer approach it?

 

Suzuki: Feel and experience it with activating all senses instead of understanding it by notion.

 

Liddell: People inevitably seek order and patterns. A good example of this is cloud gazing where we see distinct forms in the changing clouds. Is this a good way to view K.’s works, looking at his colours and shapes and use them to build our own patterns?

 

Suzuki: Yes. As I told you, Kandinsky left the remnants of the objects in his seemingly abstract paintings, which function as a clue to incite viewer’s association.

 

Liddell: Doesn’t this mean that we can never really share the artist’s true vision?

 

Suzuki: It depends what this “true” means. I think that we can communicate with Kandinsky and share his "inner sound" to some extent through his painting. We don’t have to worry too much about if we can really understand his vision. The value of art work exists beyond the artist’s control, which means that it is we, the viewer, that give a new meaning to it. But it goes without saying that we should make an effort to approach the works of Kandinsky with modesty.

PS: Not a single quote made it into the final article