Wassily Kandinsky

Nina Kandinsky, Paris (until 1972)
Galerie Maeght, Paris (acquired in 1972)
Galerie Berggruen, Paris (acquired in 1972)
Galerie Jan Krugier, Geneva (until 1973)
The Lefevre Gallery, London
Sale: Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, 22nd May 1981, lot 870
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Zurich, Galerie Maeght, Kandinsky, Ölbilden, Gouachen, Zeichnungen, 1972, no. 41
Paris, Berggruen & Cie., Kandinsky, Aquarelles et Gouaches, 1972, no. 44, illustrated in the catalgoue
London, The Lefevre Gallery, Oil Paintings and Watercolours by Wassily Kandinsky, 1973, no. 33, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Vivian Endicott Barnett, Kandinsky Watercolours, Catalogue Raisonné, 1922-44, London, 1994, vol. II, no. 1090, illustrated p. 337

Executed on cream laid paper, laid down on card. Three edges are uneven. Apart from a few spots of studio dirt and some light time staining to the centre of the sheet, this work is in good condition. Colours: Overall the colours are warmer and the pink more pronounced in the original.
"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."

Mittengrun No. 479 dates from Kandinsky's last months in the industrial town of Dessau, where the Bauhaus was forced to relocate in 1925 due to the growing influence of right-wing political forces in Weimar. The works from this period retain a strong geometric element derived from Constructivism, but the growing prevalence of organic shapes reveal a particular debt to his Bauhaus colleague Paul Klee, with whom he shared a house. Indeed, the technique of using an atomiser to spray thinly diluted watercolour on the sheet used in this work was probably borrowed from Klee's teaching exercises. As Clark V. Poling wrote about Kandinsky's work from the Dessau years: 'This was a very productive period for Kandinsky's art.  After he applied in his painting the abstract principles articulated in Point and Line to Plane and in his teaching, he developed a diverse set of pictorial images and modes.  Some of these represent particular responses to the Bauhaus context and to his colleagues, most notably Klee' (C. V. Poling, Kandinsky, Bauhaus and Russian Years (ex. cat.), The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1983, p. 56).