Untitled (First Abstract Watercolor) by Wassily Kandinsky

This item from 1910 was produced using watercolour and indian ink, with some feint use of pencil underneath. It was one of Kandinsky's best known watercolour paintings.

Here we find a good flurry of colour, as found in most of his paintings, but the use of watercolours instead of oils leaves a visibly different finish that makes this artwork interesting and fairly unique from his output in 1910. The work up close looks like it was completed quickly, which is typical of this art form as the paint will dry very quickly. He also works in an expressive manner, not worrying too much about precision, but rather focusing more on colour choices and filling the canvas with different shapes and lines. It was truly abstract and this was something that appeared more and more as his career progressed, as he moved further and further away from reality in the forms that he used.

Kandinsky specialised in oils but did work with watercolours from time to time. He would have found this medium easy to work with and something that was well suited to fast study pieces as well, where he was looking to understand layout for a future piece. He also made use of lithographs, woodcuts and etchings at other times, particularly in the earlier stages of his career when he was particularly experimental.

You will now find this painting in the collection of the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, although it won't necessarily be on display. They hold a good selection of work from his career, featuring a large number of lesser known artworks that will interest keen followers of this artist who may well find items that they were not aware of previously. You will also be able to discover a good number of related artists here as well as they focus on the early 20th century particularly strongly. This untitled watercolour from Kandinsky is sized at the relatively small 19.5 × 25.5" (49.6 × 64.8 cm) and potentially would be easy to loan out to other locations for some of the frequent exhibitions that occur with a focus on the career of Kandinsky, such was his important and influential role within the development of European art during the period in which he was present.