notas de Lynn Edward Boland

A Culture of Dissonance: Wassily Kandinsky, Atonality, and Abstraction Tese. 2014.  

"Schoenberg's approach involved introducing a collection of intervals that generated additional material and propelled the piece. I would argue that this is comparable to the concentric circles at the center of Composition VII. The colors themselves might be considered dissonant within traditional color theory, where violet and green are across the color wheel. At the same time, the two shades of green in the central motif suggest a closer intervallic relationship comparable to the minor second (G- sharp–G) in the second and third notes of the opening passage of "Three Piano Pieces." 
In its central placement, the concentric circle motif suggests an opening passage

for the painting. In this way, it might serve a role similar to what Perle described as a "cell" in Schoenberg's compositions. While the overall visual effect is evident at a distance, the painting's large size necessitates viewing the composition in portions, just as he painted segments of it. Moreover, Kandinsky suggested this approach to viewing other paintings of the period. For instance, his comments addressed above where the viewer would experience "an inner sensation like a succession of waves," or his remarks about an "inner boiling" that produces an "overflow of boundaries" resulting in "overtones.

The repetition of concentric circles and semi-circles throughout Composition VII supports this reading. Both the form of the central motif and its colors are separately repeated numerous times in the painting; the motif appears in different colors while the tones of the central motif appear in different forms throughout the composition. The repetitions of the central color are usually larger and spread out, which is an expansion. For instance, most of the colors used in the boat motif repeat those in the central motif of concentric circles. Principles of inversion might also be described in Composition VII and many of its studies, where sequences of colors are reversed. Inversion is suggested by the relationship of red and blue in the top two concentric circle motifs in the "Seven Square Study," or in the ordering of teal and green in the central motif in Composition VII to their reversed appearance in the boat (fig. 8.1a and 8.1b).

Applying the structural analogy further, the red and blue concentric circle motif in Composition VII would be comparable to cell b in "Three Piano Pieces." The form is related to the central motif, yet the colors are distinct. Moreover, the musical triad of the primary colors in the Color-Overtones Study might suggest further connections, since Schoenberg's cell b is an augmented triad, formed in part from the same interval represented by blue and red, the major third. Whether a link is intended here, both interval collections represent a structural relationship where the materials, the specific notes, and colors are different, but one structural relationship between two elements in each set is the same. Both motifs contain an interval of pronounced distance, pink and green or yellow and teal in the central motif, and red and blue in the outer motif. In the central motif, like a cell , there is also a more subtle tonal relationship (shades of green, and a minor second, respectively).

If reading from the center of the canvas, the red and blue motif is introduced after the initial collection of violet, teal, and green. The red-blue motif is expanded and developed in a manner to the expansion of the central motif. The colors from both motifs are evident throughout the upper section of the canvas, and the small spot of yellow in the central motif has become especially expansive at the left of Composition VII.
More specific interpretations of directionality within Composition VII would have to refer to the analytical sketches that Kandinsky made for the painting. It will be useful to briefly note general elements of two of the compositional sketches that appear to most closely correspond to the finished painting. The oblique oval in figure 8.29 seems to suggest an orbit around a central point, indicated by a "x." In addition to this general arrangement, it is worth noting that lines suggesting waves occupy the area that includes the boat motif in the finished painting.
Figure 8.30 resembles the finished painting even more closely, with major

elements of Composition VII indicated. The boat motif is in the lower right-hand corner as in the finished painting. In the upper right, where scholars have identified Gabriel and his trumpet in Composition VII, Kandinsky drew a circle with a cross. He connected this form and the boat in a straight diagonal line across composition. Kandinsky drew the central motif as a series of roughly concentric circles with a sharply angled v-shaped wedge crossing them. The central motif is situated between the largest diagonal line connecting the bottom left and upper right, and other compositional lines indicated on the study, most of them diagonal. Diagonal compositional lines in themselves suggest dynamism. In their abundance here, they interlock to form a larger structure. It is worth noting that the red-blue concentric circle motif is also indicated on this study, among the relatively sparse yet significant elements."318 - 321