This week’s artist Twitter backgrounds were made from the beautiful work of Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky.

Wassily Kandinsky was born in Moscow in 1866. He studied law and economics at the University of Moscow and due the success in his profession, Kandinsky was offered a professorship at the University of Dorpat. It wasn’t until the age of 30 that he started painting studies.

.

In 1896 he settled in Munich to study at the private school of Anton Ažbe and later at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. He went back to his home country in 1914 but he didn’t approve of its theories on art. This is why he returned back to Germany in 1921, where he started teaching at the Bauhaus school of art and architecture until it was closed in 1933.

He then moved to France and stayed there for the rest of his life as a French citizen. He obtained the French citizenship in 1939.

Kandinsky was part of the expressionist and abstract art movement. He was one of the first painters that used pure abstraction in modern paintings. He was also the founder of the influential Munich group, “Der Blaue Reiter”.

Kandinsky is also known as a theorist, as he developed several theories on sound and geometric figures and their relationships. He was suffering from a neurological condition called synesthesia, which consists in one type of stimulation (cognitive or sensory) evoking another, mostly involuntary, cognitive or sensory stimulation.

This condition can have different forms, as for Kandinsky, he suffered from sound-colour synesthesia, where “the hearing of a sound produces the visualization of a color”. That’s why he associated colours to sounds and vice versa.

Kandinsky died in France (Neuilly-sur-Seine) in 1944 and left a great legacy as one of the founders of abstract art.

If you’re an art lover, we urge you to browse through our many other artist Twitter backgrounds!

Admire the amazing shapes and colours of Kandinsky’s compositions on your desktop by downloading our wallpaper below.

Click on the Tweet & Get it button to download your wallpaper (1024×768)!

.

Grab the above wallpaper for free!

Tweet&getit is powered by Viuu

.

This week’s atist Twitter backgrounds showcase the colourful works of Italian painter Gino Severini, born in 1883 in Cortona, Italy.

.

He came from a poor family and got interested in art when he moved to Rome with his mother in 1899.

In 1900 he met painter Umberto Boccioni with whom he visited the studio of Giaccomo Balla. It was Balla who introduced Severini to Divisionism (painting technique where colours are separated into individual dots or patches to interact visually – it is the viewer who combines the colours as opposed to the painter mixing them together).

In 1906 Severini moved to Paris where he was “born intellectually and physically”.

He was living in Montmartre where he met Modigliani, Picasso and other artists.

He joined the Futurist movement in 1910. Futurism was an Italian art movement of the early 20^th century, glorifying the beauty of modern life. Although futurism originated in Italy, it could also be found in Russia and England.

Severini was less attracted to the machine theme than his fellow Futurists. He expressed Futurism through the form of the dancer.

He abandoned Futurism after WWI, where he became more interested in conservative and analytic paintings.

In the 1940s, Severini’s style became semi-abstract but he returned to Futurism in the 1950s by using dancers, light and movement in his works.

Severini died in 1966 in Paris but was buried in his hometown Cortona in Italy.

There is an exhibition (27 April to 25 July, 2011) showing Severini’s work at the Orangerie Museum in Paris, France.

If you liked our Gino Severini Twitter designs, you should take a look at our other artist Twitter backgrounds.

You can also grab those 2 colourful Severini wallpapers for your desktop (1024×768) by using the Tweet & Get it button below.

Gino Severini 1024×768 Wallpaper – Blue font:

.

Gino Severini 1024×768 Wallpaper – Pink font:

.

Grab both wallpapers with our handy Tweet & Get it Button below!

Tweet&getit is powered by Viuu

.

Kevin is an American Supply Chain Management Professor at the W.P. Carey School of Business and the Arizona State University. He’s also an entrepreneur, since he’s running a small “market research software and services” business.

He likes to experiment with photography and therefore he has quite a varitety of photo subjects such as landscapes, plants, trees, architecture, abstract but also family and humour.

By taking a look at Kevin’s Flickr photos you’ll notice that he likes to get interesting effects with his cameras by experimenting with lighting, angles or taking photos while moving. You’ll come across photos from various places in the US as well as places all over the world.

.

The best part is that Kevin’s photos are under a Creative Commons Attribution licence, meaning that you can use them for your project, as long as you properly credit Kevin.

There are hundreds of interesting and beautiful images on Kevin’s Flickr, so that you could easily spend a pleasant afternoon looking at them.

If you like the backgrounds we made from Kevin’s photos, you should check out our entire Photographers Collection to discover some more amazing images.

This week’s artist Twitter backgrounds were made from the beautiful paintings of Manet.

..

Éduard Manet (1832-1883) was a French impressionist painter and one of the first 19^th century artists to approach modern-life subjects. Manet played a key role in the transition from realism to impressionism.

Manet was born in Paris but he travelled the world where he met fellow artists Frans Hals and Diego Velàsquez. During his travels, Manet got inspired by other artists and their works.

He painted subjects such as café scenes, social activities, Paris street scenes, war but was never really acknowledged by art critics, since his work was seen as too new.

Manet’s roughly painted style and photographic lighting brought him recognition very late in his life.

Today Manet is recognised for his innovative painting style and the subjects he chose. He influenced many artists over time.

The Musée d’Orsay in Paris is currently exhibiting the works of Manet (until 17 July 2011).

If you’re an art lover, you should take a look at our other artist Twitter backgrounds!

Download this beautifully blue coloured Manet painting as a Wallpaper for your desktop with the Tweet & Get it button below!

Tweet&getit is powered by Viuu

.

Artist Twitter Backgrounds – Chagall | Viuu Blog http://ow.ly/4WmMK #twitterbackground #design #art

30 Best Examples of Bollywood Movie Posters | inspirationfeed.com http://ow.ly/4WzGc #posters (via @Inspirationf)

The Entertainment Lobby: Inspirational Cool Photos and Artworks http://ow.ly/4Wx8C #photography #photomanipulation (via @VJAkif)

27 Beautiful & Enticing Designer Websites http://ow.ly/4Xler #webdesign #digitalart #creativity (via @InspireMonkey)

The Coffee Mania – A Showcase of Fascinating Coffee Art – Logo Design Blog | Company Logos http://ow.ly/4Y6Ag #design (via @company_logos)

15 Free Watercolor Textures And Brushes |Top Design Magazine – Web Design and Digital Content http://ow.ly/4YjPA #brushes(via @topdesignmag)

Architecture, That Talks to Your Emotions | Cruzine http://ow.ly/4YkeG #architecture #design (via @cruzinecom)

50 Free and High-Quality Icon Sets – Noupe Design Blog http://ow.ly/4Ymr2 #icon #icons #graphicdesign (via @NoupeMag)

Bold and Beautiful Hand-Cut Paper Silhouettes – DesignSwan.com http://ow.ly/4YnyN #photomanipulation (via @DesignSwan)

Steve Coleman Photography Twitter Backgrounds http://ow.ly/4Z4yE #design #photography

Steve is originally from Peak District in England but it has been 14 years since he moved to the Czech Republic to live in Jicin, “a picturesque little town not so far from Prague”, as he describes.

He has been interested in photography since he can remember. When he got his first digital camera, Steve started exploring HDR. You can admire some beautiful, colourful, dramatic HDR shots on his Flickr.

.

He recently upgraded his photo equipment by buying a Nikon D700. Steve has always used Nikon gear to shoot.

His favourite photo subjects are animals, twilight urban scenes, landscapes, architecture. He likes to shoot everything colourful and reflective.

Steves photographs are really gorgeous. He manages to capture every photo subject at its very best. The colours and depth of his images are stunning, they convey a great atmosphere.

Take a look at Steve’s Flickr and be inspired by his stunning photographs!

Admire the vivid paintings of Marc Chagall through our artist Twitter backgrounds!

Belarusian, French, Jewish modernist artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was inspired by cubism, symbolism and fauvism.

.

Chagall went to Paris in 1910 to pursue his career as an artist and to develop his artistic style. Cubism was his dominant art form when he first arrived to Paris. He brought a fresh wind to the French art scene, dominated by the “materialistic outlook of the 19^th century”. Chagall’s work was fresh and colourful, full of poetry and sentiment.

He saw art as an expression of the inner psyche, much like fellow Russian painter Alexej von Jawlenski (1864-1941), whose images were characterised by the mystic and spiritual human self.

He returned to Russia in 1914 to marry Bella, his fiancée, whom he really missed during his time in Paris. He returned to France again between 1922 and 1941 and brought his wife Bella and their daughter (born in 1916), but they both had to leave the country during the German occupation.

It was the US that added Chagall to the list of artists who were at risk, so that he and his family could be safe. The Chagall family arrived to New York, one day after Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

Chagall came back to France in 1948 and stayed there until his death. During this period he painted the new ceiling for the Paris Opera (1963). This endeavour took him one year to complete.

Chagall’s supernatural, illogical and fantastic paintings are said to have significantly formed Surrealism. His colourful paintings immediately attracted the viewer’s attention. His painting subjects were life memories, fantasy and jewish themes.

Worth a look: Paris through the Window: Marc Chagall and His Circle exhibtion at The Philadelphia Museum of Art (1 March 2011- 10 July 2011).

Download this lovely Marc Chagall Wallpaper for your desktop wit the Tweet & Get it button below!

.

Tweet&getit is powered by Viuu

.

It was Brooklyn-based writer, Grace Bonney who launched the blog in 2004. Grace worked as a contributing editor at Domino Magazine and CRAFT Magazine but she also worked a freelancer for top magazines such as House and Garden, New York Home, Food and Wine, In Style and many other well-established publications.

In 2008, The NY Times declared Design*Sponge a “Martha Stewart Living for the Millenials”. Grace has also been on several talk shows such as Good Morning America, The Nate Berkus Show and the Martha Stewart Radio Show. In addition, she has been invited to speak with various organisations such as design schools and professional trade organisations.

Grace fully lives her passion and helps other women live theirs too by running several national meetups for women (D*S Biz Lady Series) who are running a design-based business. She gives free advice on PR & marketing, legal matters, business & financial decisions and wholesaling. Those meetings are held all over the US. Design*Sponge helps up-and-coming design students pursue their creative endeavours with the annual D*S Scholarship.

.

Grace and her editorial team write store and product reviews, various guides (city, product, gift), DIY projects, before & after home and furniture makeovers, home tours, recipes, videos & podcasts, trend forecasts. The blog also covers student design, as well as national and international design shows.

If you’re a home and product design addict, you’ll definitely get your fix on Design*Sponge since the blog is updated 6 to 10 times daily. The blog design of Design*Sponge is colourful and homey. The warm colours invite you to stay on the blog and browse through the various categories all day long.

There is so much beautiful and original stuff on Design*Sponge, everything you need to make your home real cosy. You’ll come across some delicious recipes, great DIY projects, stunning before and after showcases, marvelous gift ideas, home and product design trends, interesting podcasts, valuable product guides and city guides sharing the best that every product/city has to offer.

Design*Sponge is really pleasant to browse and you’ll probably come across a lot of products that’ll make you say “I need to have that”.

.

Follow Design Sponge on Twitter to get the latest news!

Share our Blog of the Week if you enjoyed it!

Japan Twitter Backgrounds | Viuu Blog http://ow.ly/4L7gg #twitterbackground #design #japan

45 Creative Poster Designs http://ow.ly/4L7eH #graphicdesign #posters #vintage #retro (via @bluefaqs)

Stunning creative portraits by Alexey Kurbatov – Blog of Francesco Mugnai http://ow.ly/4L8v9 #drawing #creativity (via @francescomugnai)

15 Examples of the Pop Web Design Scene http://ow.ly/4Lclz #webdesign #templates (via @chadMueller)

45 Amazing Examples of Fractal Art http://ow.ly/4LcJW #digitalart #webdesign #creativity (via @rafiqelmansy)

Beautiful Examples of Penguin Pictures for Wallpaper | Art Photography http://ow.ly/4LhRd #photography #wallpapers (via @Photographycn)

Chin8Neri Redesigned | Packaging of the World: Creative Package Design Archive and Gallery http://ow.ly/4LdO3 #design (via @packagings)

40 Mindblowing Examples of Nature Photography | Photography Magazine http://ow.ly/4Li07 #photography #macro (via @Photoity)

Best of Flickr – January 2011 | Inspiration | Scott Photographics | Free Inspiration http://ow.ly/4LRw4 #photography (via @scottfotographs)

Weekly Typography Inspiration # 26 http://ow.ly/4LTUy #graphicdesign #digitalart (via @addictivefonts)

But the unfortunate and tragic events of 2011 that the “land of the rising sun” has faced and still is facing, is probably one of the first things to spring to people’s minds when thinking about Japan today.

But Japan shouldn’t solely be remembered for its recent tragedy. That’s why we wanted to show that Japan still is all of the things mentioned above.

Discover Japan and its extraordinary culture through our Japan Twitter backgrounds!

.

We have some adorable “kawaii” layouts, as well as some funny designs of the crazy Japanese clothing styles.

Kawaii is Japanese for cute and refers to anything cute and adorable in Japan, such as Hello Kitty and various other cute Japanese characters.

If you love colour, then you should definitely take a look at our Japanese clothing style layouts.

Ever heard of Bento? Bento is a single portion meal, either takeout or home cooked, traditionally packed in a box-shaped container. The interesting thing about Bento boxes is that they are prepared with love and great care.

The food inside the Bento box can be very elaborately arranged and decorated, so that it looks like popular Japanese comic characters. Those character Bentos are called “Kyaraben” and are really pleasant to look at. It is a nice way of enjoying your daily meals.

Enjoy the fascinating Japanese culture and lifestyle through our Japan Twitter backgrounds!