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Untitled

A work made of watercolor and touches of opaque watercolor on ivory wove paper.
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

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  • A work made of watercolor and touches of opaque watercolor on ivory wove paper.

Date:

c. 1915

Artist:

Wassily Kandinsky
Russian, 1866–1944

About this artwork

Filled with shifting forms and colors that push forward and recede, this watercolor appears completely abstract at first glance. But deeper examination reveals references to landscape, including a hilltop town illuminated by a deep red sun at upper left.

Forced by World War I to leave Germany, where he had lived since 1898, Vasily Kandinsky returned to Moscow in 1914. Restricted by limited space and financial resources, he concentrated on small-scale works primarily in watercolor, of which Untitled is a particularly fine example. It epitomizes the artist’s balance between representation and non-representation in this period.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Vasily Kandinsky

Title

Untitled

Place

Russia (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1910–1920

Medium

Watercolor and touches of opaque watercolor on ivory wove paper

Inscriptions

Signed with stamp, recto, lower left, in black ink: “K” (in arc); inscribed verso, upper left, in graphite: “S” (?); upper center, in graphite: “Kandinsky” (by Nina Kandinsky)

Dimensions

29 × 22.9 cm (11 7/16 × 9 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Richard and Mary L. Gray in memory of Buddy Mayer

Reference Number

2018.753

Copyright

© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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