Scene, 1907 by Wassily Kandinsky

In the short time span between Song of the Volga and this pointing, Kandinsky has simplified his forms and his technique for pointing them. During the first half of 1907, Kandinsky and Gabriele staged at Sevres, outside Paris, where at this time paintings by Gauguin (1848-1903) and Matisse (1869-1950) were being exhibited. One can sense the influence of Matisse, particularly, in Kandinsky's work at this time through his use of simplified forms and use of brighter colours. In 1907 Matisse was working on his developed form of painting that later came to be known as Fauvism, a brief period of experiment in which he used colours in a non-natural wag to express form. At this time Matisse was working on his text Notes of a Painter in which he articulated that 'a work of art must be harmonious in its entirely ... there must result a living harmony of colours'.

Matisse provided Kandinsky with a formula for using colour to express form, achieving Matisse's ideal of painting a picture that has a 'calming influence on the mind, something like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue'.