Kandinsky: An Exhibition to See… and Hear
Rarely has a painter been so closely connected to music as Vassily Kandinsky. The exhibition Kandinsky: The Music of Colors, presented by the Philharmonie de Paris in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou, invites visitors on a fascinating journey where visual and auditory arts meet.
Featuring nearly 200 works, objects, and archival pieces, the exhibition highlights how profoundly music influenced Kandinsky’s life, thought, and artistic evolution, culminating in the emergence of abstraction. It offers an immersive, intellectual, and sensory experience that is sure to surprise and delight.
When Music Inspires Abstraction
Kandinsky, a contemporary of Mussorgsky, Scriabin, and Stravinsky, grew up between Moscow and Odessa in a stimulating cultural environment. An amateur cellist and passionate admirer of Wagner, he developed early on a fundamental belief: music, through its abstraction, frees painting from mere imitation of reality.
Drawing inspiration from musical structure, Kandinsky created a new pictorial grammar. His famous Improvisations and Compositions embody this ambition: to make shapes and colors resonate like notes on a musical score.
A Sonic Immersion into Modernity
For the first time, the exhibition situates Kandinsky’s entire body of work within its musical context. Through an immersive headphone experience, visitors can perceive the subtle correspondences between sound, color, and form—from his Wagnerian shock of 1896 to the stage experiments of the Bauhaus.
The scenography, inventive and poetic, combines suspended panels and colored projections on the floor, emphasizing the central role of color in Kandinsky’s world and his passion for abstraction. An experience to be seen… and felt.
The Secret Chamber of a Music Lover
A highlight of the exhibition is Kandinsky’s imaginary cabinet, offering a glimpse into the painter’s creative intimacy. Scores, books, photographs, records, prints, and studio tools reveal the decisive influence of music on his work.
Notably, the exhibition showcases his research into the “sonority” of colors and visual studies inspired by Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony—a true symphony of shapes and colors.
Towards a Total Synthesis of the Arts
For Kandinsky, painting, music, poetry, and theater were in constant dialogue. The exhibition illuminates this quest for artistic synthesis through his stage projects, vibrant canvases, experimental poems, and the Blaue Reiter Almanac.
Certain synesthetic works, such as the staging of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (1928), remind visitors that for Kandinsky, art is a living, performative, and almost choreographic experience.
An Exhibition Accessible to Everyone
The Philharmonie offers inclusive resources for all audiences:
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Sound trails for children from age 8,
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Audiodescription and tactile devices for visually impaired visitors,
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Free 30-minute flash tours on Fridays and Saturdays.
A thoughtful approach reflecting Kandinsky’s spirit of sharing.
Extend the Experience at Hôtel Moderniste
After this artistic immersion, continue your visit by staying at Hôtel Moderniste, ideally located for exploring Paris’s major cultural sites. Contemporary design, clean lines, and a warm atmosphere resonate with Kandinsky’s creative universe, providing the perfect setting to reflect on your artistic experience.
Practical Information:
Until February 1, 2026
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Tuesday to Thursday: 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM
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Friday: 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM
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Saturday: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM
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Sunday: 10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
Photo ©Art of Chicago - Unsplash