Wassily KANDINSKY (1866-1944)

Other possible identifications: after, attributed, manner

Biography - Signatures, monograms and symbols

Wassily Kandinsky is a Moscow-born painter who died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Pioneer of abstract art in the 1910s, he perceives the possibility of a pure painting according to “the primary color values”. In 1911, he formes the Blue Rider group with Franz Marc and publishes Concerning “the spiritual in art”, the first theoretical writing on abstraction. He then paints what is considered the first non-figurative watercolor of Modern Art, contrasting with his first landscapes in the Impressionist style. Shortly after, he starts his series of tumultuous lyric “improvisations”, and begins “compositions” that are distinguished by their symphonic richness and their deeply meditated nature. He teaches at the Vkhutemas school in Moscow and the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau between 1922 and 1933 and developes the principles he shares in “Point and Line to Plane” in 1926. He is closer of the free creation of Paul Klee, longtime friend and also professor at the Bauhaus, than Malevitch. Emigrating to Paris from 1933, his palette becomes clearer and his brushes give birth to a whole set of geometric and ornamental patterns, floating and unreal figures, under the influence of Arp and Miro. A true forerunner for modern art, Kandinsky is one of the first to explore the path of abstraction. His works are naturally among the most expensive in the genre: in 2018, “Bild mit weissen linien” (Painting with white lines), 1913 reached $ 42 million at Sotheby’s London.

In 1911, he formes the Blue Rider group with Franz Marc and publishes Concerning “the spiritual in art”, the first theoretical writing on abstraction. He then paints what is considered the first non-figurative watercolor of Modern Art, contrasting with his first landscapes in the Impressionist style. Shortly after, he starts his series of tumultuous lyric “improvisations”, and begins “compositions” that are distinguished by their symphonic richness and their deeply meditated nature. He teaches at the Vkhutemas school in Moscow and the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau between 1922 and 1933 and developes the principles he shares in “Point and Line to Plane” in 1926. He is closer of the free creation of Paul Klee, longtime friend and also professor at the Bauhaus, than Malevitch. Emigrating to Paris from 1933, his palette becomes clearer and his brushes give birth to a whole set of geometric and ornamental patterns, floating and unreal figures, under the influence of Arp and Miro. A true forerunner for modern art, Kandinsky is one of the first to explore the path of abstraction. His works are naturally among the most expensive in the genre: in 2018, “Bild mit weissen linien” (Painting with white lines), 1913 reached $ 42 million at Sotheby’s London.

Auction results

All auction results	3,640
Print-Multiple	2,622
Drawing-Watercolor	696
Painting	311
Tapestry	9
Objects	2
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79 results for other identifications

Artworks up for public auction

All artworks	4
Drawing-Watercolor	2
Print-Multiple	2

2 artworks by other identifications

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Artprice’s fifth and final review of the strongest artists at auction by nationality looks at the top-performing German artists in 2021. This Top 10 ranking has just four names: Wassily Kandinsky, Sigmar Polke, Lucian Freud and Gerhard Richter, with the latter not only dominating the market for German artists, but also holding a Top-5 position […]

Russian artist Alexej von Jawlensky, who died 80 years ago, had a strong influence on key developments in Modern art, a fact the art market appears to be waking up to… not just in Germany. Apparently, Alexej von Jawlensky (1864-1941) had a strong spiritual experience in front of a church icon when he was about […]

Artcurial kicked off 2021 with a sale dedicated to comics that included what Artcurial described as one of the most evocative and enigmatic book covers in the Adventures of Tintin series… a rare drawing that was expected to fetch around 3 million dollars. So how did Tintinophiles react? The patience of Tintin enthusiasts has been […]

A major El Greco exhibition Grand Palais, Paris: 16 October 2019 – 10 February 2020 Spectacular, colorful and sensual, the paintings of El Greco (Domenikos EL GRECO, 1541-1614) represent – according to Charlotte Chastel-Rousseau, curator of Spanish and Portuguese painting at the Louvre Museum – the “final bloom” of the Renaissance. And yet, neither the […]

During the month of December, Artprice looks back at some of the art market’s key figures in 2017. This week we focus on May and June which saw particularly dense activity on the high-end market and lots of new records. $57.36 million: new record for Constantin Brancusi On 15 May 2017, Constantin BRANCUSI’s superb golden […]