Vassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) was a Russian-born painter and theorist who played a pioneering role in the development of abstract art. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky initially studied law and economics before turning to art in his 30s and moving to Munich. His early paintings drew on landscape, Russian folk traditions and European modernism, but he gradually moved away from recognizable subjects toward compositions built from color, line and form. Kandinsky believed that visual elements could communicate emotion and spiritual experience much as music does, and he frequently used musical terms such as “improvisation” and “composition” to title his works. In 1911, he and Franz Marc founded Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), an influential group of artists interested in color, expression and spirituality. Kandinsky articulated his theories in Concerning the Spiritual in Art and other writings. From 1922 until its closure by the Nazis in 1933, he taught at the Bauhaus, where his work became increasingly geometric. He subsequently settled in France, continuing to paint until his death in 1944.