Wassily Kandinsky

Hugo Erfurth, Dresden (acquired from the artist)
E. Weyhe, New York (acquired before the 1930s)
Private Collection, New York (by descent from the above; sale: Sotheby's, New York, 5th November 2004, lot 321)
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

New York, Museum of Modern Art, Fantastic Art, Dada, Surrealism, 1936, no. 277

Vivian Endicott Barnett, Kandinsky Watercolours, Catalogue Raisonné, 1922-44, London, 1994, vol. II, no. 743, illustrated p. 130

Executed on cream laid paper, not laid down, hinged to the mount in the top two corners and floating in the mount. There is restorer's tape attached mainly along the right edge of the verso and intermittently along the verso of the left edge, with associated glue remnants in areas where the tape has been removed. There are paper remnants along the left edge of the verso due to previous mounting. Apart from some minor undulations to the sheet, caused by the paper and the adhesive on the reverse, and some very light surface dirt towards the centre of the top edge, 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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This work was executed whilst Kandinsky was working at the Bauhaus, and exhibits the geometrically abstract style which characterises his work of this period. His stay at the Bauhaus seems to have brought out the intellectual, analytical side of his make-up, and both his writings and his work have a  scientific quality, reflecting the prevailing ethos of the school under Walter Gropius.  

In Warmes, we see the geometric forms that made occasional appearances in the work of his Russian period now dominate his compositions, and the forms are precisely and regularly articulated. Unlike his early works in which abstract forms denote external objects, these works feature abstract forms which derive their meaning from his artistic theories. Tensions between compositional elements now provide his compositions with energy and meaning, and show an artist leaving the mysticism of the Russian tradition for a more cerebral approach to his discipline.