Kandinsky Could Break Records at Christie’s

Tags: Abstract Art, Auctions, Christie's, Impressionism, Modern Art, Records, Russian Art, Upcoming Auctions

Christie’s has announced that Wassily Kandinsky’s Studie für improvisation 8 (1909) will headline its Impressionist and Modern Art sale in New York this November with an estimate of $20 – 30 million. As Kandinsky’s record stands at $20.9 million, which was achieved in 1990, the auction could be a defining moment for the artist.

1909 was a crucial year for the artist: it marked his retreat to the small Bavarian town of Murnau, where he completed the manuscript for his book On the Spiritual in Art, today considered to be the theoretical foundations of abstract art.

Kandinsky divided his work into three categories: Impressions (influenced by the outside world); Improvisations (largely subconscious renderings); and Compositions (the harmony of both the internal and the external).

The “Improvisations” series was the first he completed, usually executed in rich, unconventional colors aligned with the Fauvist movement (think Matisse). Study for Improvisation 8 follows this approach to a T, making it appealing to collectors of the series. It also has a strong history of exhibiting in museums– including the Tate Modern, the Musée des Beaux-Art in Montréal and the Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland–which inevitably adds value as well.

The painting will travel throughout Europe for exhibitions and will be on view in New York on November 3 – 7 at Christie’s Rockefeller Center.

[via ArtDaily.org]

Photo courtesy of Christie’s and