“Color is a means of exerting a direct influence upon the soul,” wrote the pioneering abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky. The Russian-born painter and theorist dedicated his life to using abstract compositions of form and color to express deep emotion as well as to depict the language of music through visuals.
Kandinsky was part of a crucial moment in art history — the early 20th century — that saw the rise of movements like Cubism. He embraced styles such as Surrealism and Fauvism and was a leading figure in bringing together Der Blaue Reiter (the name means “The Blue Rider” after one of Kandinsky’s paintings) in 1911, a group of avant-garde artists in Munich, including Paul Klee and Franz Marc, who explored spiritual concepts through their art as a response to the materialism of the time. Kandinsky also led courses on analytical drawing and color at the Bauhaus. He was appointed by founder and architect Walter Gropius to teach in Weimar in 1922. He taught at all three of the legendary school’s locations and remained with the institution until its forced closure by the Nazi party in Berlin.
The artist had the rare and unusual trait of synesthesia, the neurological ability to perceive things using multiple senses. In Kandinsky’s case, it was the gift of “seeing” music, and music appeared in every aspect of his work, including the titles of his series “Compositions,” “Improvisations” and “Impressions.” He once described the experience of painting using a musical metaphor: “I had little thought for houses and trees, drawing colored lines and blobs on the canvas with my palette knife, and making them sing just as powerfully as I knew how.”
While Kandinsky isn’t the first abstract artist — mystically inclined painter Hilma af Klint was making nonrepresentational art well before him — he certainly had the biggest impact on establishing the style. His paintings inspired the likes of Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and other Abstract Expressionists. From his Untitled (First Abstract Watercolor) painted in 1910 to future works, his unique take on using color and flair for bold, experimental compositions, Kandinsky is one of the most important figures of early-20th-century art.
Find original Wassily Kandinsky art, including paintings and prints, on 1stDibs.
$7,196Sale Price|20% Off
Wassily Kandinsky, Komposition, from XXe siecle, 1939
By Wassily Kandinsky
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite woodcut by Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), titled Komposition (Composition), from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Laz...
Woodcut
$5,596Sale Price|20% Off
Wassily Kandinsky, Black Spot, from XXe siecle, 1938
By Wassily Kandinsky
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite woodcut by Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), titled Schwarzer Fleck (Black Spot), from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San ...
Woodcut
$5,596Sale Price|20% Off
Wassily Kandinsky, Rider’s Path, from XXe siecle, 1938
By Wassily Kandinsky
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite woodcut by Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), titled Reiterweg (Rider’s Path), from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Lazz...
Woodcut
$5,596Sale Price|20% Off
Wassily Kandinsky, Motif from Improvisation 25, from XXe siecle, 1938
By Wassily Kandinsky
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite woodcut by Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), titled Motiv aus Improvisation 25 (Motif from Improvisation 25), from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valett...
Woodcut
$5,596Sale Price|20% Off
Wassily Kandinsky, Oriental, from XXe siecle, 1938
By Wassily Kandinsky
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite woodcut by Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), titled Orientalisches (Oriental), from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Directeur G. di San Laz...
Woodcut
$5,596Sale Price|20% Off
Wassily Kandinsky, Two Riders Against Red, from XXe siecle, 1938
By Wassily Kandinsky
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite woodcut by Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), titled Zwei Reiter vor Rot (Two Riders Against Red), from the album XXe siecle, Chroniques du jour, 13 rue Valette (5e), Dire...
Woodcut
$1,276Sale Price|20% Off
Wassily Kandinsky, Comets, from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, 1938
By Wassily Kandinsky
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), titled Comets, from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. I, No. 2, originates from t...
Lithograph
$1,276Sale Price|20% Off
Wassily Kandinsky, The Stars, from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, 1938
By Wassily Kandinsky
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), titled Les etoiles (The Stars), from Verve, Revue Artistique et Litteraire, Vol. I, No. 2, ...
Lithograph
$200
H 9.5 in W 12.5 in D 0.1 in
Blue Texas Modernist Abstract Surrealist Space Themed Landscape Block Print
Located in Houston, TX
Blue space themed surrealist block print by Texas modernist artist Josefa Vaughan. The yellow toned abstract forms create a whimsical landscape. Signed "Fo...
Woodcut
Tree 8
By Alex Katz
Located in Miami, FL
Technical Information: Alex Katz Tree 8 2022 Woodcut and Lithograph 39 3/4 x 39 1/4 in. Edition of 60 Pencil signed and numbered
Lithograph, Woodcut
$404Sale Price|20% Off
H 11.42 in W 11.42 in D 0.04 in
Four trees. Paper, wood carving , 29x29 cm
By Dzidra Ezergaile
Located in Riga, LV
Four trees. Paper, wood carving, 29x29 cm Dzidra Ezergaile (1926-2013) Born in Riga. School years alternate with summer work in the countryside. In 1...
Paper, Woodcut
Sandscapes #4 Florida Artist Abstract Modernist Signed Print
By Kathy Stark
Located in Surfside, FL
Fine piece of Florida abstract Landscape art. With a French Art Deco feel to it.
Lithograph
$705
H 19.69 in W 27.56 in D 0.08 in
Ostermade - Rosa Himmel, 1/10 - by Skadi Engeln Contemporary Abstract Wood Print
By Skadi Engeln
Located in DE
Skadi Engeln, a Berlin- and France-based artist, studied sculpture at FH Ottersberg with Robert van de Laar and painting with Michael Kohr and Hermanus Westendorp. Her work has been ...
Paper, Woodcut
$2,120Sale Price|20% Off
H 35.5 in W 46 in D 1 in
Large Scale Abstract Figurative Landscape Woodcut, Signed Limited Edition 1/10
By Michael Pauker
Located in Soquel, CA
Large scale limited edition woodcut print of an an abstracted scene with landscape elements and rough figural forms including a dog, house and tree that emerge from chaotic linear ab...
Paper, Woodcut, Ink
$12,325
H 37.13 in W 24 in
High Tatras Woodcut Print on Handmade Paper, Signed, 20th Century
By Carol Summers
Located in Milwaukee, WI
Woodcut on handmade Japanese paper with metallic inks Framed dimensions: 44.5 x 31.38 in Signed in pencil lower right corner, titled and numbered in pencil lower left corner Ed. S...
Woodcut
$240Sale Price|40% Off
H 10.55 in W 8.05 in
Untitled Composition I in Green (British Modernist, Landscape)
By Graham Sutherland
Located in Kansas City, MO
Graham Sutherland Untitled Composition I in Green (British Modernist, Landscape) 1970 Lithograph on Rives Sheet Size: 10.55 x 8.05 inches (26.8 × 20.45 cm) Edition: XXXIII of XXXV (3...
Lithograph
$2,000Sale Price|20% Off
H 11.5 in W 16.5 in
Keiji Shinohara, Accelerondo, Ukiyo-e woodcut print landscape, 2005
By Keiji Shinohara
Located in New York, NY
Keiji Shinohara was born and raised in Osaka, Japan. After 10 years as an apprentice to the renowned Keiichiro Uesugi in Kyoto, he became a Master Printmaker and moved to the United ...
Paper, Woodcut
$840
H 40 in W 55.3 in
Cloudy Breezeblocks, Tropical Modernism in Blue Tones, Miami Art Deco Diptych
By Kind of Cyan
Located in Barcelona, ES
“Cloudy Breezeblocks” is a unique handmade monotype cyanotype diptych inspired by Miami Art Deco architecture. Repeating geometric forms echo breezeblock facades, while soft cyan gra...
Paper, Monotype
Lullaby: Sleeping Head
By Henry Moore
Located in New York, NY
Paper: 25.25 x 20.5 in. / 64.1 X 52 cm. Image: 10.75 x 11.5 in / 27.3 x 29.2 cm. One of a series of 18 lithographs drawn by the artist for the Auden Poems/Moore Lithographs 1974 bo...
Lithograph
$1,275
H 32.75 in W 35.75 in D 1.25 in
Poezia Marina, Spain - Fauvist Landscape - Limited Edition Screenprint #12/150
By Guido Lopez
Located in Soquel, CA
Poezia Marina, Spain - Fauvist Landscape - Limited Edition Screenprint #12/150 Bright and bold screen print by Spanish artist Guido Lopez (Spain, 20th century). A smaller rowboat si...
Screen
Sold
H 12.4 in W 9.65 in
(tariff free*) Bogenschütze (Röthel 79), Société internationale d'art XXe siècle
By Wassily Kandinsky
Located in Southampton, NY
Woodcut on vélin paper. Paper Size: 12.4 x 9.65 inches. Inscription: Signed in the block and unnumbered, as issued. Catalogue raisonné references: Kandinsky, Wassily, and Hans Konrad...
Woodcut
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H 9.5 in W 20.625 in
"Zwei Frauen in Mondlandschaft (Two Women in Moonlight), " by Wassily Kandinsky
By Wassily Kandinsky
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Zwei Frauen in Mondlandschaft (Two Women in Moonlight) Ref Roethel #100" is an original color woodcut by Wassily Kandinsky. It is from an edition of 300. The artist put his initials...
Woodcut