Date of Award

8-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master in Fine Arts

Department

Art

First Advisor

Kelly Scheffer

Second Advisor

Trenton Olsen

Third Advisor

Matthew Bailey

Abstract

This study aims to analyze Kandinsky's The Last Judgment painting and compare it with Michelangelo's The Last Judgment to show that Michelangelo's work influenced Kandinsky's painting. For this study, the mixed-methods methodology is applied, which refers to an emergent methodology of research that advances the systematic integration or combining of quantitative and qualitative analysis within a single investigation. Mathematical analysis and a review of Kandinsky's books and manuscripts are considered. Image processing analysis is applied using biorthogonal Wavelet analysis and Canny Edge detection, in conjunction with Kandinsky's writings on color theory, to determine whether Kandinsky was inspired by Michelangelo's The Last Judgment when he was working on his own painting of the same name. This study introduces a new perspective on the source of inspiration for Kandinsky's The Last Judgment painting and demonstrates that Kandinsky, as a member of the Modernist avant-garde, was, in fact, looking back to the Renaissance master for inspiration. These findings and methods of analysis can be used by artists and art historians to study other artworks.

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