
Russian-born artist Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was one of the first creators of pure abstraction in modern painting. Born in Moscow to a tea merchant's family, he studied law before moving to Munich at age 30 to pursue art. After encountering Monet's Haystacks at an 1896 Moscow exhibition, he realized color and form alone could carry emotional meaning. In 1911, he co-founded Der Blaue Reiter ("The Blue Rider") with Franz Marc, a pioneering Expressionist movement emphasizing spiritual content and the symbolic associations of color.
Kandinsky believed in the spiritual power of art and the analogy between visual art and music. He called his spontaneous paintings "improvisations" and more elaborate works "compositions." His 1912 book Concerning the Spiritual in Art theorized his approach. From 1922 to 1933, he taught at the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau, where geometric abstraction dominated his style. When the Nazis closed the Bauhaus, he immigrated to Paris and became a French citizen. His influence on Abstract Expressionism was profound, directly inspiring Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and others. Major works hang at the Guggenheim, MoMA, and Centre Pompidou.
11 paintings catalogued with museum locations

Wassily Kandinsky
State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg

Wassily Kandinsky
Lenbachhaus, Munich

Wassily Kandinsky
Lenbachhaus, Munich

Wassily Kandinsky
Georges Pompidou Center, Paris, Paris

Wassily Kandinsky
Lenbachhaus, Munich

Wassily Kandinsky
State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg

Wassily Kandinsky
Lenbachhaus, Munich

Wassily Kandinsky
Private Collection, Unknown

Wassily Kandinsky
Private Collection, Unknown

Wassily Kandinsky, 1923
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
Wassily Kandinsky, 1913
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
6 museums display Kandinsky's works. Click any museum to see visiting info and the specific works they hold.


Unknown, Unknown
2 works on display
Washington, D.C., United States
1 work on display


Saint Petersburg, Russia
2 works on display

New York, USA
1 work on display



Munich, Germany
4 works on display

Paris, France
1 work on display
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