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Why is Wassily Kandinsky considered a pioneer of abstract painting?

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Wassily Kandinsky: Painting with Green Center — Wassily Kandinsky *Painting with Green Center*, oil on canvas by Wassily Kandinsky, 1913; in the Art Institute of Chicago.

Wassily Kandinsky is recognized as a pioneer of abstract art because he was one of the first artists to systematically eliminate recognizable subject matter from his work, aiming to create a visual "language" of colors, lines, and shapes.12

Rather than focusing on "art for art's sake," Kandinsky sought to use these abstract elements to express general ideas and evoke deep emotions, drawing parallels to the abstract nature of music. His transition toward nonrepresentation was a gradual evolution, moving from schematic forms and nonnaturalistic colors in works like Blue Mountain (1908–09) to completely nonfigurative compositions by 1911.21

While historical analysis shows he was not the sole founder of nonfigurative painting, his importance as a pioneer is cemented by his influential role in the avant-garde movement, particularly through the founding of the Der Blaue Reiter group, and his theoretical contributions, such as his treatise Concerning the Spiritual in Art, which explored the expressive potential of color and form.342