Book 1
The Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky was the son of a tea trader and was born in Moscow on December 4, 1866. In 1885 he began studying law and economics but became more and more interested in art and painting. Four years after his dissertation and inspired by a French exhibition of impressionists, Kandinsky decided to study painting in Munich. With his girlfriend and later wife, the painter Gabriele Muenter, he undertook numerous educational trips which proved to be very important for his artistic development. He founded several artist associations, for example »Der Blaue Reiter«, together with Franz Marc in Munich in 1911.
During the First World War Kandinsky returned to Russia where he taught at various state institutions and organized art exhibitions. One year after his return to Germany in 1921, Walter Gropius engaged him for the Bauhaus. As artist and teacher Kandinsky became one of the most important and formative masters of the Bauhaus. Among others he was the head of the workshop for mural art, taught the preparation course »Abstract Form Elements« and »Analytic Drawing« and later took over the teaching of »Free Painting«. In 1926 Kandinsky published one of the most important books at that time, »Point and Line to Plane«, in which he focused on abstract art. Moreover, Kandinsky became involved in school and city policy issues like no other Bauhaus master. He had already played an active role, together with his painter friend Paul Klee, in the negotiations on the move of the Bauhaus to Dessau. Later he defended the university against all accusations and remained devoted to it until its closure by the Nazis in 1933. After that he went into exile in France where he died in the Paris suburb Neuilly-sur-Seine on December 13, 1944.
Michael Kimmerle was born on December 2, 1956 and studied Graphic Design at the SHfBK Braunschweig and the Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart. After his work as an Art Director in Duesseldorf he became an assistant to his former professor Manfred Kroeplien at the Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart in 1986 where he founded the department of public relations. During this time he designed the »self-presentation« of the academy and various art catalogues. In 1989 he opened his own studio in partnership with the office community Ostend106 in Stuttgart and other designers and architects. He continues to work as a designer, painter and photo designer in his own office named ART Direction + Design since 2000. He has been a member of the »Deutscher Werkbund« since 2017.
