WASSILY KANDINSKY (1866-1944)

GRILLES ET AUTRES

Details

WASSILY KANDINSKY (1866-1944)
GRILLES ET AUTRES
SIGNED WITH THE MONOGRAM AND DATED 'K 37' (LOWER LEFT)
OIL ON CANVAS
18 7/8 X 14 1/8IN. (48 X 36CM.)
PAINTED IN OCTOBER 1937

Provenance

VITTORIO DE SICA, ROME
STUDIO D'ARTE LA MEDUSA, ROME

Literature

THE ARTIST'S HANDLIST IV, NO. 645.
W. GROHMANN, WASSILY KANDINSKY, LIFE AND WORK, NEW YORK 1958, P. 340 (ILLUSTRATED FIG. 465, P. 388).
H. K. ROETHEL & J. K. BENJAMIN, KANDINSKY, CATALOGUE RAISONNé OF THE OIL PAINTINGS, 1916-1944, VOL. 2, LONDON 1984, NO. 1083 (ILLUSTRATED P. 976).

Exhibited

LONDON, GUGGENHEIM JEUNE, CONTEMPORARY PAINTING AND SCULPTURE, JUNE-JULY 1938, NO. 1.

Sale room notice

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL CATALOGUING FOR THIS LOT:
SIGNED WITH THE MONOGRAM, DATED AND NUMBERED 'K NO. 645 1937' (ON THE REVERSE).

Lot Essay

"ABSTRACT ART, DESPITE ITS EMANCIPATION, IS SUBJECT HERE ALSO TO 'NATURAL LAWS' AND IS OBLIGED TO PROCEED IN THE SAME WAY THAT NATURE DID PROCEED, WHEN IT STARTED IN A MODEST WAY WITH PROTOPLASM AND CELLS, PROGRESSING VERY GRADUALLY TO INCREASINGLY COMPLEX ORGANISMS. TODAY, ABSTRACT ART CREATES ALSO PRIMARY OR MORE OR LESS PRIMARY ART-ORGANISMS, WHOSE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT THE ARTIST TODAY CAN PREDICT ONLY IN UNCERTAIN OUTLINE, AND WHICH ENTICE, EXCITE HIM, BUT CAN ALSO CALM HIM WHEN HE STARES INTO THE PROSPECT OF THE FUTURE THAT FACES HIM. LET ME OBSERVE HERE THAT THOSE WHO DOUBT THE FUTURE OF ABSTRACT ART ARE, TO CHOOSE AN EXAMPLE, AS IF RECKONING WITH THE STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT REACHED BY AMPHIBIANS, WHICH ARE FAR REMOVED FROM FULLY DEVELOPED VERTEBRATES AND REPRESENT NOT THE FINAL RESULT OF CREATION, BUT RATHER THE 'BEGINNING'." (WASSILY KANDINSKY, CITED IN K. LINDSAY & P. VERGO, KANDINSKY: COMPLETE WRITINGS ON ART, VOL. II, NEW YORK 1982, P. 628).

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