Wassily KANDINSKY (1866-1944) - Lot 28

Wassily KANDINSKY (1866-1944) Untitled, 1939. India ink on paper pasted on board. Monogrammed and dated lower left "VK 39". On the back an autograph inscription by Nina Kandinsky "Kandinsky / Dessin 1939 / N15 / pour cher ami de Touraou en souvenir de Kandinsky / Nina Kandinsky / Mars 1953". 21.7 x 16 cm. Provenance: Presented by Nina Kandinsky (1899-1980) to gallery owner Eraste Touraou (1902-1977) in March 1953. Private collection, Belgium. This ink composition, dated 1939, belongs to Vassily Kandinsky's last period, developed in Paris after he moved to Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1933, following the closure of the Bauhaus by the Nazi regime. During these years in Paris, his pictorial language evolved towards freer, lighter forms, where the geometric rigor of the Bauhaus years gave way to a more organic, musical and poetic universe. In these late works, Kandinsky often worked on paper with very little means: a few lines, suspended signs, circles, dots and floating forms were enough to create a balance of great intensity. Emptiness plays an essential role; the white of the paper becomes a veritable breathing space in which the shapes seem to evolve freely. The lines function almost as musical notations, while the organic shapes and small vibratory signs give the composition an inner rhythm so characteristic of his Parisian work. The year 1939 marked a particularly accomplished moment in this research. Kandinsky produced a number of inks and drawings combining fine lines, biomorphic motifs and geometric elements in compositions that were both simple and highly mastered. The black circle, scattered graphic signs and long vertical line of this sheet can be compared with several works from Kandinsky's Paris period, including "Courbe dominante" (Dominant curve) from 1936 (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York), "Bleu de ciel" (Sky blue) from 1940 (Musée d'Art Moderne, Paris), "Diverses actions" (Various actions) from 1941 (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York). They all feature the same late vocabulary: floating forms, organic signs, guiding lines and a sense of inner rhythm. The reverse bears a handwritten dedication by Nina Kandinsky: "pour cher ami de Touraou" ("for my dear friend in Touraou"). This inscription links the work to Kandinsky's direct entourage after the artist's death in 1944, when Nina Kandinsky, widow of the artist and attentive guardian of his estate, played an essential role in the conservation, dissemination and memory of his work. The recipient of the dedication is Eraste Michaïloff Touraou (1902-1977), a dancer, choreographer and ballet master from the world of the Ballets Russes, close to Serge Lifar, established in the Belgian artistic milieu, and presented by several sources as the person who helped to make Kandinsky known in Belgium. The date of March 1953 is particularly significant. It corresponds to the context of a Kandinsky exhibition organized in Brussels, at Galerie Ex-Libris, around March 21, 1953, for which correspondence from Nina Kandinsky to Eraste Touraou is documented. These letters show Nina closely following the material and commercial aspects of the exhibition, including framing, transport, customs and relations with the Galerie Maeght, confirming the existence of a direct link between Nina Kandinsky, Touraou and the presentation of Kandinsky's work in Brussels on that date. This dedication is therefore not just a mark of private provenance: it places the work at a precise moment in Kandinsky's posthumous reception, within the Russian-European network that, after the artist's death, helped to keep his memory alive. Offered "in memory of Kandinsky" to Eraste Touraou, the work appears as an intimate and historical testimony to the circulation of Kandinsky's drawings and memorabilia, transmitted by Nina Kandinsky herself to a friend and active relay of the Kandinsky cause in Belgium.