Born in Moscow but spending most of his career in Germany and France—including 11 years of teaching at the Bauhaus—Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was one of the first true abstract artists of the 20th century. His expressive, often playful abstract figures were inspired variously by the paintings of Claude Monet, the scientific discoveries of the atom, and the music of Richard Wagner, which he experienced as a dazzling vision of color and line. Boasting outstanding color reproductions on nearly every page, this art book is both affordable and compact (measuring just under 7½ inches square) yet offers a surprisingly wide-ranging survey of this important modern artist, with an introductory essay, titles, and captions in six languages.