North Korea history Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

North Korea history - Research Paper Example â€Å"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warns North Korea may be put back on terrorist state list† (7th June, 2009www.nydailynews.com). After 64 years still the problem persists though in a different guise. South Korea’s rapid economic development has catapulted the country into one of the most industrialized nations in the modern world while North Korea under communist influence of the former Soviet Union and China hasn’t progressed much. This outcome has produced a number of complex and diverse dilemmas for the countries, their leaders and citizens. Above remarks by Mrs. Clinton, the Secretary of State, refer to North Korea’s persistent efforts at developing nuclear weapons and delivery systems disregarding the calls by the international community not to do so. Tensions between the two nations have been on the rise and right now there is the possibility of even a war if one side takes a rash decision to hit back. Her remarks about putting North Korea ba ck on the list of â€Å"terrorist states† have acquired a new dimension against the backdrop of recent development in the peninsula. In the first place these remarks have such far reaching implications for both the region in particular and the world in general. Assuming a negative response, as usual, from North Korea under its reclusive despotic leader Kim Jong-Il, there would be much less of a chance to get him over to agree to measures that would ultimately reduce tensions in the region. North Korea in fact tested more atomic bombs and missiles just a few days ago.

Chinese Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinese - Movie Review Example He is a son to one of the local rich in the area. His father is also a compulsive gambler, and lost his family property to Long’er who is also a gambler. Fugui’s behaviors and characters also make Jiazhen, his long suffering wife to leave him, together with their daughter and unborn son. This paper will look into succinct analysis of the movie, considering the political aspect depicted in the film, for instance, war in China (Yimou). Chinese civil war takes place and Chunsheng and Fugui get conscription into Kuomingtang during one of the performances. He leaves his family behind and his only daughter becomes dumb due cold fever when he is away. From this, it is evident that conscription into the military or any other related activity in China was a mandatory during the time the film was shot. It is also evident in the Chinese society that rich people are considered anti-revolutionary and executed. An example is the murder of Long’er who had just acquired his wealth through gambling with Fugui. The government also claims unlawful possession of individual wealth. When Long’er shows his unwillingness to donate his wealth to the public, he is considered an enemy to revolution and is executed immediately(Yimou). War between China and Taiwan is also depicted in the film. The local chiefs are charged with a responsibility of informing the people to collect all their iron materials for refinement and manufacture of steel weapons for fighting the Taiwanese. This is a depiction of long time rift and disagreement between the two Asian nations. Another aspect of political dominion, in China, during the 1994 is that of strictness in the education policies. Youking is killed because of not getting up early for school. The government blindly believes that it is only through education that revolution can be achieved in China. Cogently reasoning, it is quite illogical imprudent to terminate the life of a young

Analysis of Pepsicos Vision Statement

Analysis of Pepsicos Vision Statement In the report, I had analyzed the vision and mission statements of PepsiCo. I had used vision statement matrix, shortcomings of vision statement and mission statement evaluation matrix to conduct the analysis. In the vision statement matrix, there are few characteristics such as directional, graphic, focused and so on. There are also some common shortcomings in company vision statements that I used to analyze the vision statement of PepsiCo. Then I recommend a new vision statement to improve the weaknesses of the current vision statement of PepsiCo. For the mission statement part, I also evaluated and I had enhanced the missing components in PepsiCo mission statement by recommend the new mission to PepsiCo. Introduction PepsiCo is an American multinational company for food and beverage industry which operate globally. The product portfolio of PepsiCo is wide and it is defined in the 10k as a leading global beverage, snack and food company. Other than that, PepsiCo also produces variety of convenient, salty grain-based and sweet snacks, non alcoholic drinks and foods in around 200 countries. Analysis of PepsiCo Vision Statement PepsiCos responsibility is to continually improve all aspects of the world in which we operate-environment, social, economic-creating a better tomorrow than today. Our vision is put into action through programs and a focus on environmental stewardship, activities to benefit society, and a commitment to build shareholder value by making PepsiCo a truly sustainable company. PepsiCo is using this vision in their company. I had analyzed PepsiCo vision statement by using directional, graphic, focused, feasible, desirable and easy to understand to analyze the company vision statement. Based on my analysis, the directional of the company is to make PepsiCo a truly sustainable company in the market. PepsiCo improve the environmental stewardship and activities that benefit the society continually to enable them to be a truly sustainable company. PepsiCo think for environment and society before they make every decision. They care about the environment and society because it is their aspiration what company they want to be. Be a truly sustainable company, PepsiCo brand can be known globally around the world. PepsiCo can expand their product portfolio and introduce more products into the market. PepsiCo can enter into new segment to serve more market. Becoming a truly sustainable company, PepsiCo might face intense competition from other brands. (refer to appendix 1and 3) For the graphic characteristic, it does not apply in the vision of PepsiCo. It is because PepsiCo do not mention what product portfolio they are making. People might not get the picture of the kind of company and management they trying to create. So, for the graphic characteristic, it is absent in PepsiCo vision statement. Besides, focused characteristic is found in the vision statement of PepsiCo. This can be proven in the vision statement as PepsiCo is trying to focus on environmental stewardship, activities to benefit society and commitment to build a shareholder value. It is clear that PepsiCo want to do more for the society and environment and not to forget about their company shareholder. These are what PepsiCo want to achieve in their future. They want to serve society and their shareholder better. PepsiCo has working with numerous projects around the world to provide safe and clean materials for the packaging. It is important in to provide fresh and clean water as it is the main ingredient for the product. By serving the society and create value for shareholders, PepsiCo can enhance their brand name and create positive image for the brand while gaining trust from the shareholders. Thus, PepsiCo can expand their company size in the future if they get support from the society. The weakness is tha t PepsiCo may spend too much of the money for charity and it will affect shareholders profit. Next, from the vision statement, there is feasible characteristic found in the vision statement. PepsiCo want to continually improve all aspects of the world which they operate including environment, social and economic to create a better tomorrow than today. PepsiCo can reach achieve their vision because of the size of the company and the financial of the company. PepsiCo is the one of the main brand in non-alcoholic drink in global. From the case, we can know that PepsiCo have the resources to achieve their vision because in the past 3 years, the net income of PepsiCo was over 5000millions. By serving to the society, PepsiCo can understand about the society needs and thus PepsiCo can serve the society better by doing the right thing that the society want. There is desirable characteristic in the vision statement of PepsiCo. In the vision statement of PepsiCo, the goal of the vision is to be a truly sustainable company. It is desirable to the stakeholders of PepsiCo. It is because PepsiCo is committed to build shareholder value. It is good for the shareholders in the long term interest because PepsiCo care about their shareholders benefit. For example, PepsiCo held a foundation called as PepsiCo Foundation to help the society and they also increase the use of recycled materials and reduce materials used in packaging. PepsiCo can gain support from the shareholders for long term because PepsiCo could bring benefit for shareholders in long term. Thus, shareholders might invest more money into the company and it is good for PepsiCo to be a truly sustainable company. The weakness is that some of the shareholders may disagree with PepsiCo and thus conflict may occur between shareholders of PepsiCo. In the vision statement of PepsiCo, the language that they used is easy to understand. Easy to understand characteristic also applied in the vision statement of PepsiCo. They use simple and clear language which can guide the people to achieve the goal of the vision statement. People can easily remember the vision statement of the PepsiCo because it is not too long and it is easy to understand by people. People can easily understand the vision thus the tasks can be done more efficiently for PepsiCo. Analysis of Vision Statements-shortcomings While I analyze PepsiCo vision statement, I found a few shortcomings in the vision statement of PepsiCo. First, the vision statement of PepsiCo is vague and incomplete. It is because in the vision statement, PepsiCo mention about to improve all aspects of the world in which they operate for their environment, social and economic but their do not mention about the product portfolio that they serve and how they treat their employees. (refer to appendix 2) Besides, in my analysis of PepsiCo vision statement, they are not forward looking. The reason why I say so is because as a one of the main brands in non alcoholic drink industry, PepsiCo got the potential to become the leader of the market share. But in the vision statement of PepsiCo, they do not mention about to be the leader in the industry. Other than that, I also analyzed that PepsiCo have another shortcoming in the vision statement. PepsiCo vision statement is too broad and not distinctive. In the vision statement, they had mentioned that they want to focus on environmental stewardship, activities to benefit society and commitment to build shareholder value. It might have conflict because by doing charity that benefit society and working together with several groups such as Earth Institute, UNICEF, Keep America Beautiful and so on. PepsiCo might need to invest a lot to do the research to come out with recycled materials. This will have conflict with build shareholder value because shareholders want to get their bonus rather than invest in so many areas. In the vision statement of PepsiCo, I do not use rely on superlatives shortcoming because PepsiCo does not claim themselves as NO.1 in the world or best in the world. So, rely on superlatives does not apply to PepsiCo vision statement. PepsiCo also do not combine vision and mission statement characteristics in their vision statement. As we all know, vision statement is about the future business path of the company while mission statement is focuses on the current business activities. There is no conflict between the mission and vision statement of PepsiCo because in the mission statement of PepsiCo, which is short term objective, they want to be the worlds premier consumer products company that focused on convenient foods and beverages while the vision statement of PepsiCo is to continually improve all aspects of the world in which they operate for long term. PepsiCo want to continually improve to become a truly sustainable company in the future. Recommendation Since there are few shortcomings in the vision statement of PepsiCo, I would like to do some recommendation to improve the current vision statement of PepsiCo. First, I found that PepsiCo vision statement is incomplete. PepsiCo should have mention about their product portfolio and benefit for their employees because employees are their main asset to operate the company. For the long term business, benefit of employees should be included in the vision statement. Besides, PepsiCo should be more forward looking ahead of their competitors. Since they are main brands in the industry, they should aim to be the best in the industry and gain the largest market share in the industry. PepsiCo should include the vision statement to motivate the people in the company to work hard together to achieve the goal of the vision statement which is to be the leader of the non alcoholic drink industry. From the case, we can see that the main competitor of PepsiCo is Coca-Cola who is the leader in the market which occupied 41 percent while PepsiCo only hold about 36.7 percent of the market share in the industry. Other than that, PepsiCo should prevent the conflict between shareholders benefit and society benefit. It is because PepsiCo need to spend money to benefit the society while shareholder would like to remain most of the money. So I would suggest that in the vision statement of PepsiCo, they should prioritize which aspects they want to serve the best. The current vision statement of PepsiCo is good but I would like to improve the shortcomings in PepsiCo vision statement. The new vision statement will be as below: To treat the employees as a family and maximize all of stakeholders benefit that PepsiCo concern. Always be innovation and enhance current product portfolio for society. Show dedication by committing to PepsiCo and be the leader in the industry. Mission Statement Evaluation I had used a few components to analyze the mission statement of PepsiCo. So, to enhance it to be a better mission statement, I will suggest new description for PepsiCo. First component is the customers. There is no description about the customers in current mission statement. I would want to recommend PepsiCo to include a new description into their current mission statement which is to serve globally. There are some less developed countries which stay in unhygienic places. PepsiCo should serve them by providing clean and fresh drinks for them so that people in there can enjoy the benefit together. (refer to appendix 4) For the products and services component, although there is description in the current mission statement, but I would like to enhance it to become better by keep on innovate to come out with new products that benefit the society. It is because some of the current foods of PepsiCo are unhealthy for society if they take it for long term, so it is important to be innovative to come out with more healthy foods and beverages. For the markets that PepsiCo serve, they want to become worlds premier consumer products company. But PepsiCo are more concentrating on developed countries such as United States, Europe and Australia. I would like to suggest PepsiCo to serve globally and enter less developed market such as Africa region. It will show that PepsiCo is concern about the poor society and thus enhance the brand. The next component is concern for survival, growth and profitability. The current mission is to seek to produce financial rewards to the investors. For a better mission, it is important to train and retain talented employees as they are the main asset for the company. There is no technology component in the current mission statement. I would like to suggest PepsiCo to develop an advanced technology ahead of their competitors to increase the efficiency of the production. It can be an advantage for PepsiCo in their industry. The current philosophy of PepsiCo is to strive for honesty, fairness and integrity. For my suggestion, I would like to come out with new description which is to be responsible to society. It is better because PepsiCo should act ethically to serve the society so that it can help the society. There is no self-concept component in the current mission statement. I suggest that PepsiCo should have prioritized their customers all the time. So that they can serve the customers better based on what they want. The concern for public image component in the current mission is only about the business partners and communities. They should treat the environment better because it is important now and it can build positive brand image in global market. PepsiCo also show their concern for employees. They provide opportunities for growth and enrichment to employees. But it will be better if they can empower their employees to make decision and reward them to create loyalty because they will feel that they are important in the company and thus will more committed to the company. I would like to make a few enhancements for the current mission statement. The enhancements will as shown in below: Our mission is to serve fairly without bias and create a positive image in global market. We also want to develop advanced technology and be responsible to the society. Customers satisfaction is our top priority. We also want to empower employees to be innovative that benefit society. Conclusion As a business analyst for PepsiCo, I had made few suggestions for the vision and mission statements and I hope that with the new enhancements of my vision and mission statements for PepsiCo current vision and mission statements, PepsiCo can improve company and be a better one to serve the society and be a truly sustainable company.

Michael Jackson Essay -- essays research papers fc

Michael Jackson: Man In The Mirror   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Michael Jackson is arguably the most well know celebrity figure in the world today. Michael Joseph Jackson was born in August 1958, in Gary, Indiana. Jackson has spent almost his entire life as a public performer. He was a member of the Jackson Five at the age of four, soon becoming the group's lead vocalist and front man. Onstage, he modeled his dance moves and vocal styling on James Brown, and portrayed an absolute self-confidence on stage that belied his shy, private personality. Throughout his life the media has dissected his personality and projected his image on a worldwide screen. The progression of his image has been a fascinating phenomenon, and his current taboo image is still looked at through the eyes of the media microscope. Jason Cowley says, â€Å"his face is no longer a face but a canvas on which is etched an image of endlessly elusive self-perfection.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most notable characteristics of Michael Jackson is his appearance. It seems, as his appearance changes, so too does his image. Being one of the most photographed and news worthy celebrities has a great impact on his image and his chameleon-like appearance. After Jackson emerged, in the Seventies, from the largely successful pop group The Jackson Five, he became a talented solo superstar. His first solo album, Off The Wall was a complete success. Then he was a young, handsome fresh-face with an Afro. He was a sex symbol to the ladies and perhaps the best dancer in the world of pop music at that time. The warning signs of a fast changing image and appearance were slowly emerging through the smoke. Jackson began speaking in various interviews about his admiration for the beauty of singing sensation and diva Diana Ross. He reportedly desired to look like her (Brown, 54). When he re-emerged in the Eighties with the smash album Thriller, the most successful i n pop history, his appearance had changed significantly. His nose was more sculpted, his cheekbones were higher and his lips thinner. No one could deny the fact that Michael had plastic surgery after the release of the video for the number one single â€Å"Billy Jean.† He looked more attractive, and there was a new, strutting sexual energy about him. He would never look so good again (Saunders, 3).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Michael Jackson’s ima... ...rtist. Lusted said, â€Å"The sexual and racial ambiguity of his image can be seen as pointing to a range of questions about images of sex and race in popular culture and popular music. If we regard his face, not as the manifestation of personality traits but as a surface of artistic and social inscription, the ambiguities of Jackson’s image call into question received ideas about what black male performers in popular music should look like.† There is one thing we know for certain about the real Michael Jackson, he is an extraordinarily talented man with a gift for creating music that people all over the world. He has a love for helping children, and is involved in many charities. His musical talent, more than anything though, accounts for more than his twenty years of stardom.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Works Cited Goldberg, M. Michael Jackson: The Making of the â€Å"King Of Pop†, Rolling Stone, 1/9/92 Issue 621, p.32. Lusted, D. The Glut of the Personality, Stardom: Industry of Desire. Routledge: New York, 1991 Johnson, R. â€Å"The Michael Jackson Nobody Knows,† Ebony, December 1984 Saunders, F. â€Å"The Man In The Mirror,† New Statesman, 1/29/2001, Volume 130 Issue 4522.

How does John Steinbeck portray racism in ‘Of Mice And Men’ Essay

From the 17th Century, when the first settlers arrived, immigrants dreamed of a better life in America. People went there to escape from discrimination or poverty, and to make a new life for themselves or their families. They dreamed of making their fortunes in the goldfields. For many the dream became a nightmare. The horrors of slavery, of the American Civil War, the growth of towns with slums as bad as those in Europe, and the corruption of the American political system led to many shattered hopes. For the American society as a whole the dream ended with the Wall Street crash of 1929. This was the start of the Great Depression that would affect the whole world during the 1930s. However the dream survived in the hope of individuals. Thousands made their way west to California to escape from their farmlands in the mid-West. George and Lennie dreamt of there ‘little house and a couple of acres’. However, between 1929 – 39 there was a general world destine in trade and prosperity. A great deal of money had been spent on the First World War, and countries found themselves in debt. Lots of American lost their jobs. They joined bands of wandering farmers, looking for work. The farm owners of California found that they could pay very low wages, and expect men to work for long hours, as the demand for work was so great. The men were only needed for short periods at a time, for harvesting and so they had to travel around for work. On October 24, 1929, the stock market crashed. Prices began to decline early in the day, triggering a selling panic in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). This caused the loss of jobs of various workers, black or white. It was very hard for the workers to find a job elsewhere in any other farms, just like George and lennie. These kinds of workers were called itinerant workers. The coming months saw no recovery. The racism, which Martin Luther King talks about in his famous â€Å"I had a dream speech†, states that white men think they have got power over black people. That all men are created equally, and no one differs from each other. The black people have to give up their seats if a white person comes on to the bus and there is no space left. Also black people were not allowed to shop in the same place as white people. And black people had to send their children to a different school to the white people. This is an example of segregation and isolation. Crooks demands isolation because he is black and wants to live alone. He is also called names † nigger â€Å". He is proberly one of the most disliked people in the story because of the colour of hes skin. But still people say crooks the † nigger † is a really nice fellow at the same time. I think they just call him that because at that time they could say or do anything to a nigger and still get away with it. The white boys did not want to sleep in the same room as a black man. I just totally disagree with this because you should not judge a perosn by the colout of the skin. Also crooks himself does not want to sleep with them because of the way the white boys have treated him. Crooks him self is a stable buck which is a very low classed job even at that time. The white boys call crooks † crooks † because as a stable buck he waz kicked on the back by a horse and he is now got a crooked back. Also the white lads have made crooks fight on christmas day with smitty just so he can sit down and have a drink with the white boys on christmas day. I think that is not acceptable because crooks is already hurt hes back from the accident with the horse and on top of that he had to have a fight with smitty with that injury when smitty was perfectly fine. All they did do was that they tyied hes hands behind hes back so he could not punch crooks but can only kick him. This first starts when crooks privacy is invaded by lennie. When lennie enters crooks room without no permission from crooks to cum into the room. Crooks is not very happy when lennie enters the room and says ‘you got no right to come in my room. This here’s my room. Nobody got no rights in here but me’! Crooks says all of this because he is not really happy with lennies presents in the room. As lennie stays longer and longer he starts to find out that lennie is dumb and crooks thinks to him self that he has got the upper hand on lennie. Crooks for the first time has got power over someone and that’s a white man. Then lennie gets up and says to crooks ‘why are you not liked on the ranch’ and crooks replys by saying ‘its just because I’m BLACK! Crooks means by this quote that the white men on the ranch do not like him. And also crooks has got nobody to talk to because crooks is the only † nigger † on the ranch. Then lennie quickly changes the subject and starts talking about the dream him and George have got. But all crooks thinks is hes † crazy â€Å". He thinks this because he thinks that lennie doesn’t know what he is talking about. Crooks taunts lennie thaat George is not going to come back. And crooks also says he might even get hurt. After crooks has said that † crooks face lightened up with pleasure in his torture. After crooks has said lennie quickly gets to hes feet and says † nothing is going to happen to come George he si going to come back safe†. Crooks is really frightened when lennis says’s that and crooks moves further up hes bed and rests hes hands on hes knees. The reason for crooks out burst like that is because all crooks is trying to do is trying to make someone feel like how crooks is feeling by telling lennie when the other boys on the ranch play horse shoe he has to stay in hes room and read a book when he would rather be playing horse shoe with the other workers on the ranch. Crooks is trying say just because i am black they don’t let me play horseshoe. Crooks is trying to gain sympthy from lennie but lennie does not really understand what crooks is trying to say to him. So lennie doesn’t really feel sorry for him because he doesn’t know what going on. So lennie can’t really feel sorry for crooks because he is lost him self in other words. The workers on the ranch describe crooks as a † nigger † one second and the other second they be saying he is a † very nice fella â€Å". I think my self that crooks is a very good person and stays quiet throught the book but it is just because of the colour of hes skin he is treated like dirt. Even thought crooks is proberly the most educated person on the farm. Crooks has got a dictionary which is described as † battered† and † ripped â€Å"and hes also got some † tatered † magazines. Also crooks has got some reading books, which are described, as † dirty â€Å". And all of these things go on a special shelf over hes bunk. When crooks read these books he feels † proud † and really † important † because at this time not much people could read or write. And on top of all that hes a † nigger â€Å". When we first meet crooks I thought he waz a nasty man because of hes posture and hes colour of hes skin. But looks can be dece-ving because he turned out to be a very well educated person and also soft hearted. It was very unusal for a black man to read or write in these in these times even so most of the white men could not read or write. I really feel sorry for crooks because he is alll alone and must feel really isolated at times or most of the time. And he has got no company at all and he aint even got no one to talk to at all because hes black. If you ask me I think that is really unacceptable because no one should be left alone for that reason. He aint got no friends to say † hello † too all because of the colour of hes skin. The white boys always pick him on. And even thought it aint hes fault most of the things are blamed on him. Also when the boss is feeling really mad he takes it all out on crooks and crooks just gets shouted at for no reason at all. Crooks on the hireachy he is right at the bottom and hes got no power at all. Even thought he has been one of the people who has been working there the longest and he has been loyal to boss. Curley’s wife, the attention seeker always flirts with other prople on the ranch because her husband is always at the cathouse or out and about. And is never at home to care about her. Curley’s wife is one of the most powerful people in the hireachy because she is married to the boses son. She tries to have some comfort with other people. This is because her husband takes no notice of her apart from the sex. She is used for an object of sex. When crooks reailses that his chances of being in the dream looked very slim and he crawled back defeated because he can’t say anything to Curley’s wife at all because she has got all the power. She can get him hung from a tree so easy, she can jus say that he waz flirting with me and that’s it he would get hung. If that was a white person being prosequted they would give him a trial and would be taken to court but just because he is black they would just get him hung without any proof he did it or not. Going back to the initial question, I think that john Steinbeck doesn’t throw the thought of ‘racism’ in our face. He just hints of the idea and makes do the rest of the thinking. This is proved whenthe worker calls him a ‘nigger’ and also a ‘nice fella’. We had do some thinking to find out that the word ‘nigger is used so much that the workers don’t even think of what the word means.

Wassily Kandinsky

Wassily Kandinsky could have been the premier abstract artist of the 20th century is a world at war had no twice interfered with his artistic career and destroyed three of his early works. Kandinsky was born in Russia in 1866 and soon moved to Germany where he worked with the Bauhaus School of expressionist painters integrating art in architecture and design (â€Å"Artcyclopedia†).   He also founded the Der Blaue Reiter, a group of artists attempting to express and define spirituality through art (â€Å"Artcyclopedia†)   Kandinsky believed that music and art should be integrated as a well as a means of defining the influence of the soul on the outer world. To that end, he began his series called Composition and had completed 7 of them before the beginning of World War II. Tragically, the first three canvases in the series were destroyed during the war.   While Kandinsky could not have planned for the destruction of his work, the loss of the first three Composition pieces helps complete the series as an allegory for his life, the ultimate tribute to a man who believe art should be spiritual.At the only time in recent history when the entire collection, with full-size black and white photos of the lost three holding their place, was displayed, reviewer Mark harden called Kandinsky one of he most original and influential artists of the 20th century. â€Å"His â€Å"inner necessity† to express his emotional perceptions led to the development of an abstract style of painting that was based on the non-representational properties of color and form. Kandinsky's compositions were the culmination of his efforts to create a â€Å"pure painting† that would provide the same emotional power as a musical composition.The exhibition â€Å"Kandinsky: Compositions†, organized by Magdalena Dabrowski and on display at the Los Angeles County Art Museum until September 3, 1995, presents these monumental works together for the first and possib ly last time and provides an opportunity to witness the creative process of Kandinsky† (Harden, 1995). The loss of the first three works and the attempt at representing them in the show left the viewer with a great sense of loss, Harden wrote, but perhaps more interesting is the fact they were lost at sometime near the artist’s death in 1944. That they were destroyed in Germany during the war as some much of his life had been as well simply adds an ironic twist to the entire project.The other twist on the Composition   series is that the final painting is the only one of the series done on a black background. In 1911, when he was working on Composition IV and V, Kandinsky is quoted as saying, â€Å"(Black) is like the silence of the body after death, the close of life.†Ã‚   (Harden, 1995)   He painted Composition X on a black background just five years before his death, when Germany was once again disrupting the world and taking the world back to war.By 1911, Kandinsky was already a world-renowned painter and known for his desire to incorporate spirituality into his art but as tension rose in Europe, he returned to his native Moscow where he remained until 1921. Compositions VI and VII would be completed in 1913 and then he did not return to the series until a decade late.   (Geggenheim, 2007). â€Å"Composition VII is the pinnacle of Kandinsky's pre-World War One artistic achievement. The creation of this work involved over thirty preparatory drawings, watercolors and oil studies. Each of these is included in the exhibition, documenting the deliberate creative process used by Kandinsky in his compositions. Amazingly, once he had completed the preparatory work, Kandinsky executed the actual painting of Composition VII in less than four days.† (Harden, 1995).Composition VII may have also been intended to be his finale in the series as art scholars â€Å"through Kandinsky's writings and study of the less abstract preparatory wor ks, have determined that Composition VII combines the themes of The Resurrection, The Last Judgment, The Deluge and The Garden of Love in an operatic outburst of pure painting† (Harden, 1995). Because Kandinsky had such a strong belief in the use of abstraction to present underlying themes with symbols and it is likely that he had intended this wrapping up of religious themes to be his final work in the series (Long, 1975).   Then, he began his self-imposed exile to his native land and stayed there until it appeared Germany was a haven again for thought and progress.In 1922, he joined Bauhaus and in 1923, painted Compositions VIII, like all the works in the series it was highly representational of his emotions and mental state at the time of its painting. â€Å"Composition VIII reflects the influence of Suprematism and Constructivism absorbed by Kandinsky while in Russia prior to his return to Germany to teach at the Bauhaus. Here, Kandinsky has moved from color to form as the dominating compositional element. Contrasting forms now provide the dynamic balance of the work; the large circle in the upper left plays against the network of precise lines in the right portion of the canvas.† (Harden, 1975)   This work also is more bright and less chaotic than his final pre-war effort, possible indicative of a more upbeat and spiritual peaceful time. Kandinsky was making progress in his work, developing with the group at Bauhaus and gaining additional international acclaim. His first solo show in New York coincided with this work (Guggenheim, 2007).Perhaps this perceived happiness and his involvement in other pursuits is why it would be another 10 years before Kandinsky added another painting to the Compositions series. He gained citizenship in Germany in 1928 and seemed contented in his new homeland until 1933 when Bauhaus was one of the early casualties of the Nazi government. He then moved to France where his Composition IX was definitely influence d by the surrealists gaining popularity there (Harden, 1995). After Composition IX was completed in 1936, Europe once again became an ugly place to live and in 1937, 57 of Kandinsky’s works were seized by the Nazi government.(Guggenheim, 2007). Some, like the first three Composition pieces, were destroyed.Two years later, in 1939, Kandinsky completed the series, breaking from all the previous works and creating his work on a field of black. Given his earlier statements about the color and the loss of his other works, it is no doubt a reflection of the very pain in Kandinsky’s soul brought on by the second World War. â€Å"The outstanding characteristic of Composition X is obviously the stark, black ground. The colors and forms appear particularly sharp against the black background. The brilliance of the colored shapes brings to mind the cutouts done by Matisse over a decade later.The movement of the forms is distinctly upward and outward from both sides of a central a xis running through the book-like form near the top of the canvas. This movement enhances the evocation of hot-air balloon forms rising into an infinite space. The round form between the book shape and the brown balloon shape has a lunar feel to it that even conveys a feeling of literal â€Å"outer space†. Kandinsky had always expressed a strong dislike for the color black and it is significant that he chose it as the dominating color of his last major artistic statement.† (Harden, 1995).Ultimately, the reviewer is right and the final Composition is kandinsky’s statement about his loss and the world at war. â€Å"For Kandinsky, if that objective element of a painting were taken away, the building blocks of the composition would reveal themselves to cause a feeling of repose and tranquil repetition, of well-balanced parts.† (Dabrowski, 1995).  Ã‚   The artist spent a lifetime telling the world that he disliked the color black and that his work was all abo ut the symbolism and the meaning behind the painting itself.   It makes perfect sense then that his final major work would be about death itself and the life that has been interposed over it. Whether Kandinsky knew that Compositions X would be among his final works is not clear.What is clear is that death too is symbolic of loss and pain, emotions that the highly spiritual Kadinsky could not help but feel when his work was captured by the Nazi regime. Perhaps more so than even the usual artist, Kandinsky was tied to his art, deeply and emotional. That they were an expression of his belief system and his very soul make the loss of the first three Compositions even more tragic.Sadly, World War II was a horrible time for the great works, with many works of art lost forever to the savages of war. The difference in Kandinsky’s work, as opposed to other great masters, is that the artist was still alive and he was able to present one last finale, to express the pain and rage and t he destruction and to show that life, even without art, must sometimes go on.WORKS CITEDDabrowski, Magdelena. â€Å"Kandinsky:Compositions† Museum of Modern art: New York, 1995.â€Å"Geggenheim Museum†, http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_bio_71.html, November 14, 2007Harden, Mark. â€Å"Kandinsky: Compositions† http://www.glyphs.com/art/kandinsky/, November 14, 2007.Long, Rose-Carol Washton. â€Å"Kandinsky's Abstract Style: The Veiling of Apocalyptic Folk Imagery†,Art Journal > Vol. 34, No. 3 (Spring, 1975), pp. 217-228 Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-3249%28197521%2934%3A3%3C217%3AKASTVO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4 , November 14, 2007.â€Å"Wassily Kandinsky† November 14, 2007.