How did Wassily Kandinsky move from Expressionism toward abstract painting?

Wassily Kandinsky’s transition from Expressionism to abstract painting was a gradual evolution rooted in his desire to create a visual "language" capable of expressing deep emotions and general ideas, much like music.1

While he initially worked with the strong, non-naturalistic colors characteristic of central European Expressionism, his move toward abstraction began in earnest around 1909 while working in Murnau, Bavaria. During this period, his forms became increasingly schematic and his compositions began to move away from recognizable objects.1

Key developments in this transition included:
* Thematic Evolution: Works like Blue Mountain (1908–09) and Landscape with Tower (1909) show a clear progression toward non-representation, with dreamlike landscapes and exploding compositions.1
* Musical Influence: Kandinsky viewed abstract elements—colors, lines, and shapes—as tools to evoke emotion, famously comparing colors to musical sounds in his treatise Concerning the Spiritual in Art.21
* Formal Breakthrough: By 1911, with works such as Encircled, he had developed a style that lacked any discernible point of departure in the physical world, leading to his peak period of dramatic, non-figurative expression.1