No artist played a greater role in the development and emergence of abstraction than Wassily Kandinsky. Tensions calmées, a modern masterpiece from 1937 encapsulates the artist’s extraordinary vision which continues to have a profound influence on generations of artists that have followed.
In 1964, Sotheby’s held a historic auction of 50 paintings by Kandinsky from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York. This major work was among those in the landmark sale and is now returning to Sotheby’s for the first time in over half a century, having remained in the same family collection, unseen by the public, ever since. The painting will star in Sotheby’s livestreamed Modern & Contemporary Evening Sale in London on 29 June this summer, when it will be offered with an estimate of $25-35 million (£18-25 million).
Tensions calmées will be on view by appointment at Sotheby’s York Avenue galleries until 12 May, before travelling to Dubai, Hong Kong and Taipei for public exhibitions, and going on view at Sotheby’s New Bond Street from 22 – 29 June.
