Wassily KANDINSKY (1866-1944)

Other possible identifications: attributed, after, 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	3,385
Print-Multiple	2,406
Drawing-Watercolor	667
Painting	301
Tapestry	9
Objects	2
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19 results for other identifications

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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 […]

It’s Top 10 Friday! Every other Friday, Artprice posts a theme-based auction ranking. The Top 10 this week focuses on London, where the best sales of Impressionism and Modern art take place. The London art market is one of the most active in the world. Not only do tens of thousands of artworks change hands […]

One week after Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art sale in London, it was Christie’s turn to test the same market at its 27 June sale in King Street. And like its rival, the event produced a resoundingly positive result… The latest auction results from London are very encouraging after the sharp falls in turnover last […]

After a dramatic fall in revenue at their London sales in June 2016 (-47% at Sotheby’s and -39% at Christie’s), Sotheby’s 2017 figures are somewhat better and include a couple of major new auction records… On the supply side, the trend we saw last year at London’s prestige Impressionist & Modern Art sales was confirmed […]