This dynamic watercolor was painted by Kandinsky in the mid-1920s, when his art was experiencing a powerful upsurge - both in theoretical and practical terms. Having returned to Germany from Moscow in June 1922, the artist quickly immersed himself in the German art world. He began teaching in the Bauhaus school in Weimar, took part in a number of exhibitions, and immersed himself in theoretical studies, which few years later would form the basis of the book Point and Line to Plane.

It was during these years, under the emerging influence of Constructivism, that Kandinsky’s painting style began to shift from free-flowing lines and shapes toward geometric precision. His canvases started to featuring an increasing number of circles, triangles and right angles. Yet the artist eschewed Constructivist utilitarianism, which is vividly expressed, among other places, in the works of Soviet artists of that time. For Kandinsky, the poetic and spiritual aspects of creativity always remained paramount.

Sold 5 November 2015 at Sotheby's, New York, for $5.74 million.

Graham Lawther: This is free jazz...three and a half decades before there was such a thing as free jazz. Ornette Coleman in paint. Astounding. I have a large print on my wall.

Timeline

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