“Framing” Kandinsky’s Painting with Red Spot (1914) : An Intervention of Abstraction and Meaning Making in The Museum Space

Abstract

In contemporary museum studies discourse, scholars have begun to reexamine both the role of the curator and exhibition space in their joint effect on visitor experience. Underpinning the relationship of these three parties is the element of language, or more commonly known within this discipline, the wall label. This label intrinsically “frames” its adjacent artwork as it proposes a certain narrative, one that is crafted by curators and communicates ideas and themes deemed important by its writers. However, what about art that eludes one singular interpretation, such as abstraction? Could proposing an exclusive narrative be detrimental to the multiplicity of meaning that abstract art promotes?                    

Considering these issues, this paper examines Painting with Red Spot (1914) by Wassily Kandinsky and its current “framing” at the Centre Pompidou in Paris to analyze both the relationship between language, abstraction and meaning making, and the complicated role of artist intent that accompanies exhibiting Kandinsky. This paper argues that “framing” Kandinsky’s P.W.R.S in relation to the artist’s contradictory embrace of kitsch in 1914 will provide a framework for his stylistic experiments at this time in his career, offering the proper stepping-stones to encourage contemplation while still leaving room for a multiplicity of meaning.