Improvisation
Vasily Kandinsky
French, born Russia. 1866–1944
c. 1914
A watercolor and pencil on paper in which Kandinsky attempts to translate musical improvisation and spiritual feeling into a swirl of abstract forms and color.
You see luminous, overlapping crescents and blots—curving bands of blue, pink, green and gold with lively pencil gestures—that seem to float, collide, and reverberate like an improvised musical score.
Created around 1914, this piece marks Kandinsky’s pioneering move toward pure abstraction and his synesthetic idea that painting could operate like music, a key influence on 20th‑century abstract and expressionist art.
Medium
Watercolor and pencil on paper
Dimensions
14 x 17 5/8" (35.6 x 44.8 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Louise Reinhardt Smith Bequest
Accession
81.1996
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
