WASSILY KANDINSKY Cube
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LOT
1810
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Artist
WASSILY KANDINSKY ( 1866 - 1944 )
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Estimate
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Result
Members only
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Details
gouache on black paper framed 1939
signed and dated
Provenance:1.Mme Nina Kandinsky
2.Fondation Beyeler, Switzerland
3.Fuji TV Gallery, Tokyo
4.Teijiro Kubo, Tochigi
5.Private Collection, Tokyo
(based on accompanying documents)
Publication: Kandinsky – Watercolours Catalogue Raisonné, Vol.2"P.463, No.1262, Vivian Endicott Barnett, 2003
Exhibited:1.Maeght, Paris, 1957
2.Nantes, 1959
3.MoMA, New York, 1969
4.Toronto, May 1970
5.Bern, 1971
6.Basel, 1972
7.New York, 1973
8.Annely Juda Fine Art, London, 1980 / 1981 / 1983
9.Tokyo, 1986
10.Düsseldorf, 1992
WASSILY KANDINSKY, was a painter and art theorist born in Moscow, Russia. Together with Kazimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of abstract painting. Kandinsky studied law and economics at Moscow University and later served as a lecturer there. In 1896, he decided to devote himself to art and moved to Munich to pursue a career as a painter. In 1909 he founded the Neue Künstlervereinigung München (New Artists' Association of Munich), and in 1911 he co-founded the Expressionist movement Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) with artists such as Franz Marc, Paul Klee, and Gabriele Münter. Kandinsky's artistic style underwent several transformations throughout his career. His early works still contained elements of Expressionist figuration, but around 1910 he gradually turned toward lyrical abstraction. During the 1920s, while teaching at the Bauhaus, he developed a more rational abstract style based on geometric forms such as circles, straight lines, and triangles, while exploring the structural relationships between color and form. After the Bauhaus was closed by the Nazi regime in 1933, Kandinsky moved to Paris. In the late 1930s, particularly around 1939, his works began to incorporate more organic and biomorphic forms alongside geometric compositions. These shapes appear like cells, microorganisms, or cosmic life forms floating among delicate lines and transparent layers of color, creating a distinctive visual universe. Compared with the rigorous compositions of the Bauhaus period, the lines of this phase become more fluid and expressive. The forms resonate with one another, generating an organic rhythm within the composition. Soft, translucent color contrasts further create a poetic and imaginative spatial atmosphere. Works from this period reveal a mature abstract language in which geometric order and organic vitality coexist, opening a spiritual space that transcends rational structure and representing one of the significant achievements of twentieth-century abstract art. This work was originally owned by Kandinsky's wife and later circulated through several collections and institutions, including Galerie Beyeler in Switzerland and Fuji Television Gallery in Tokyo. It has also been exhibited at major museums such as the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Pasadena Art Museum. With its distinguished provenance and exhibition history, the work continues to be highly regarded in the international art market.
48.5×36.5cm
(19 ⅛ × 14 ⅜ in.) -
Organizer
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Auction
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Catalog
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Date
2026/04/25
WASSILY KANDINSKY Cube
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