Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky, Komposition, from XXe siecle, 1939
1939

Name: Wassily Kandinsky, Komposition, from XXe siecle, 1939
Brand: Wassily Kandinsky
Rating: 4.9 (71 reviews)

About the Item

This exquisite woodcut by Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), titled Komposition (Composition), from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Lazzaro, Sommaire du no. 5/6, 1939, originates from the 1939 edition published by Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, editeur, Paris, in collaboration with Societe Internationale d'Art XXe siecle, Paris, and printed by Mourlot Freres, Paris. Komposition embodies Kandinsky’s revolutionary vision of abstraction—transforming sound, emotion, and spirituality into a symphony of color and geometric form that transcends representation and invokes pure visual harmony. Executed as a woodcut on velin paper, this work measures 9.75 × 12.5 inches (24.77 × 31.75 cm). Signed in the block and unnumbered, as issued. The edition exemplifies the superb craftsmanship of Mourlot Freres, Paris. Artwork Details: Artist: Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) Title: Komposition (Composition), from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Lazzaro, Sommaire du no. 5/6, 1939 Medium: Woodcut on velin paper Dimensions: 9.75 × 12.5 inches (24.77 × 31.75 cm) Inscription: Signed in the block and unnumbered, as issued Date: 1939 Publisher: Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, editeur, Paris, in collaboration with Societe Internationale d'Art XXe siecle, Paris Printer: Mourlot Freres, Paris Catalogue Raisonne References: Kandinsky, Wassily, and Hans Konrad Rothel. *Kandinsky: Das Graphische Werk.* Verlag M. Dumont Schauberg, 1970, illustration 201 Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium Provenance: From the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Lazzaro, Sommaire du no. 5/6, 1939, published by Gualtieri di San Lazzaro, editeur, Paris About the Publication: Gualtieri di San Lazzaro’s XXe Siecle (Twentieth Century) was one of the most influential art journals of the modern era, founded in Paris in 1938 as a platform for the greatest painters, sculptors, and writers of the 20th century. San Lazzaro—a visionary editor, critic, and champion of modernism—believed that art and literature should coexist as expressions of a shared human imagination. Under his direction, XXe Siecle became a cultural bridge between Europe and the wider world, publishing special issues devoted to leading figures such as Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Braque, Calder, Miro, Kandinsky, and Leger. Each edition combined essays by renowned critics and poets with original lithographs printed by the foremost ateliers of Paris, including Mourlot, Arte, and Bellini, creating a uniquely rich dialogue between text and image. Through XXe Siecle, San Lazzaro preserved the creative spirit of the avant-garde during and after World War II, championing freedom of expression and the evolution of abstraction, Surrealism, and modern thought. Over nearly four decades, the journal shaped international taste and defined the intellectual landscape of postwar art publishing. Today, XXe Siecle remains celebrated for its extraordinary synthesis of art, literature, and design—an enduring testament to Gualtieri di San Lazzaro’s belief that the visual arts are the soul of the modern age. About the Artist: Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) was a visionary Russian-born, later French, painter, printmaker, and pioneering theorist whose quest to translate music and spirituality into pure visual form helped birth abstract art and irrevocably transform the modern aesthetic. Emerging from a background of law and economics, he embraced painting in his late thirties and soon became a central figure in avant-garde circles—including co-founding the Munich-based Der Blaue Reiter and later teaching at the prestigious Bauhaus school—fusing his deep interests in Russian icon painting, folk ornament, theosophy, color theory, and the experimental energy of early 20th-century artistic innovation. Influenced by predecessors such as Cezanne, Matisse, and the non-European masks and forms he encountered, Kandinsky worked alongside and in dialogue with contemporaries including Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray—artists united by a fearless rejection of conventional representation and a shared impulse toward radical visual invention. His compositions of floating geometric forms, vibrant chromatic symphonies, and lyrical abstractions not only charted new territory for the avant-garde in his own time but also inspired innumerable later artists—from the Abstract Expressionists like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, to the Color Field painters, post-war neo-expressionists, and contemporary abstractionists who continue to echo his bold experimentations with color, line, and composition. Kandinsky’s works remain cornerstone acquisitions for major museums worldwide and prime offerings in the global collector market. His auction record stands with *Murnau with Church II* (1910), which sold for £37,196,800 (≈$44.9 million) at Sotheby’s, London, on March 1, 2023. Wassily Kandinsky Komposition, Kandinsky XXe siecle, Kandinsky Mourlot, Kandinsky 1939 woodcut, Kandinsky velin paper, Kandinsky abstraction, Kandinsky collectible print.

Creator:
Wassily Kandinsky (1866 - 1944, Russian)
Creation Year:
1939
Dimensions:
Height: 9.65 in (24.52 cm)Width: 12.4 in (31.5 cm)
Medium:
Woodcut
Movement & Style:
Modern
Period:
1930-1939
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Southampton, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU1465216660602

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Wassily Kandinsky

“Color is a means of exerting a direct influence upon the soul,” wrote the pioneering abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky. The Russian-born painter and theorist dedicated his life to using abstract compositions of form and color to express deep emotion as well as to depict the language of music through visuals.

Kandinsky was part of a crucial moment in art history — the early 20th century — that saw the rise of movements like Cubism. He embraced styles such as Surrealism and Fauvism and was a leading figure in bringing together Der Blaue Reiter (the name means “The Blue Rider” after one of Kandinsky’s paintings) in 1911, a group of avant-garde artists in Munich, including Paul Klee and Franz Marc, who explored spiritual concepts through their art as a response to the materialism of the time. Kandinsky also led courses on analytical drawing and color at the Bauhaus. He was appointed by founder and architect Walter Gropius to teach in Weimar in 1922. He taught at all three of the legendary school’s locations and remained with the institution until its forced closure by the Nazi party in Berlin.

The artist had the rare and unusual trait of synesthesia, the neurological ability to perceive things using multiple senses. In Kandinsky’s case, it was the gift of “seeing” music, and music appeared in every aspect of his work, including the titles of his series “Compositions,” “Improvisations” and “Impressions.” He once described the experience of painting using a musical metaphor: “I had little thought for houses and trees, drawing colored lines and blobs on the canvas with my palette knife, and making them sing just as powerfully as I knew how.”

While Kandinsky isn’t the first abstract artist — mystically inclined painter Hilma af Klint was making nonrepresentational art well before him — he certainly had the biggest impact on establishing the style. His paintings inspired the likes of Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and other Abstract Expressionists. From his Untitled (First Abstract Watercolor) painted in 1910 to future works, his unique take on using color and flair for bold, experimental compositions, Kandinsky is one of the most important figures of early-20th-century art.

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Wassily KandinskyWassily Kandinsky, Komposition, from XXe siecle, 19391939

About the Item

Wassily Kandinsky

Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky, Komposition, from XXe siecle, 1939
1939