Wassily Kandinsky

Galka E. Scheyer, Los Angeles (acquired in 1933)
Nina Kandinsky, Paris (acquired in the late 1940s)
Acquired from the above

Berlin, Galerie Ferdinand Möller, Sonder-Ausstellung, W. Kandinsky: Zeichmungen 1910-1931 Neue Aquarelle, Grafik, 1932, no. 85
The Oakland Art Gallery, Paintings by Wassily Kandinsky, The "Old Master" of Abstract Art, 1935, n.n.
San Francisco Museum of Art, Paintings by Wassily Kandinsky: A Survey 1923 to Present, 1939, n.n.
Lugano, Museo Cantonale d'Arte, Kandinsky nelle collezioni Svizzere, 1995, no. 59

Vivian Endicott Barnett, Kandinsky, Catalogue Raisonné of the Watercolors, 1922-1944, vol. II, Ithaca, 1994, no. 1058, illustrated p. 321 & in color p. 264

Executed on wove paper, laid down on card. The upper and left edges are very slightly irregular. There is a pindot indent towards the center of the right edge, barely visible to the naked eye, and a thin superficial surface scratch just below the center of the composition. Otherwise, apart from some minor time-darkening, this work is in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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Kandinsky’s deep theosophical interests informed his desire to create a renewal of the arts. Championing the autonomy of color, the painter believed that all arts were capable of attaining an equal level of spirituality, achieving thus a synthesis of universal content. Fascinated by the effect of color and form, Schatten fully encapsulates the style of his Bauhaus period, with its abstract geometric language and color palette, while still bearing an element of symbolism in its composition. Kandinsky reduced his pictorial vocabulary as he furthered his investigations into form, with an increasing stylization and complexity. Schatten is the product of such a synthesis, being entirely comprised of geometric archetypes in a layered pattern, which invite the viewer to explore the relationship between the forms themselves and their own relationship to the picture plane.

FIG 1. Kandinsky (center) teaching the Preliminary Course at the Bauhaus in Dessau in 1931, the year the present work was executed.