Art, literature & historySans titre
Wassily Kandinsky · 1930 vers
Wassily Kandinsky: 1866–1944
Other names (21)
Basile W. Kandinsky, Kandinsky, Vasilii Vasilevich Kandinskii, Vasilĭi Vasilʹevich Kandinskĭi, Vasilij Kandinski, Vasilij Kandinskij, Vasilij Vasil'evič Kandinskij, Vasilij Vasilijevitch Kandynski, Vasili Vasileevich Kandinsky, Vasili Vasil'evich Kandinski, Vasili Vasilevich Kandinsky, Vasily Kandinsky, Vasily Vasil'yevich Kandinsky, Vassily Kandinsky, Wahsili Kang-ting-ssu-chi, Wassili Kandinsky, Wassily Kandinski, Wassily Wassiljewitsch Kandinsky, Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky, w. kandinsky, Василий Васильевич Кандинский
Biography
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (16 December [O.S. 4 December] 1866 – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist active in Germany during the late Belle Époque and Interwar eras. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstraction in Western art. Born in Moscow, he began painting studies (life-drawing, sketching, and anatomy) at the age of 30.
In 1896, Kandinsky settled in Munich, studying first at Anton Ažbe's private school and then at the Academy of Fine Arts. During this time, he was first the teacher and then the partner of German artist Gabriele Münter. He returned to Moscow in 1914 after the outbreak of World War I. Following the Russian Revolution, Kandinsky "became an insider in the cultural administration of Anatoly Lunacharsky" and helped establish the Museum of the Culture of Painting.
However, by then, "his spiritual outlook... was foreign to the argumentative materialism of Soviet society" and opportunities beckoned in Germany, to which he returned in 1920. There, he taught at the Bauhaus school of art and architecture from 1922 until the Nazis closed it in 1933. He then moved to France, where he lived for the rest of his life, becoming a French citizen in 1939 and producing some of his most prominent art. He died in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 1944.
Wikipedia contributors. Opening excerpt, formatted for reading. CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision.
Influenced by
- Josef Alberseditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- Franz Stuckeditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- Pablo Picassoeditorial inference
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- Rudolf Steinereditorial inference
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- Paul Cézanneeditorial inference
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Explicit secondary-source assertion; independent historical verification remains pending.
- Robert Delaunayeditorial inference
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- Aristarkh Lentuloveditorial inference
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- Claude Moneteditorial inference
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- Vincent van Gogheditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Anton Ažbeeditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- Henri Matisseeditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Edvard Muncheditorial inference
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Later influence
- Karl Otto Götzeditorial inference
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Explicit secondary-source assertion; independent historical verification remains pending.
- Mary Corseeditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Hans Hartungeditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Egon Schieleeditorial inference
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Explicit secondary-source assertion; independent historical verification remains pending.
- Vilhelm Bjerke Peterseneditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- Gabriele Müntereditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- Oleh Sokoloveditorial inference
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Explicit secondary-source assertion; independent historical verification remains pending.
- Anni Alberseditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- Axel Haartmaneditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- Georgia O'Keeffeeditorial inference
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Explicit secondary-source assertion; independent historical verification remains pending.
- Albert Blocheditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Max Billeditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- Hans Hofmanneditorial inference
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Explicit secondary-source assertion; independent historical verification remains pending.
- Josef Alberseditorial inference
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Explicit secondary-source assertion; independent historical verification remains pending.
- Arshile Gorkyeditorial inference
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Explicit secondary-source assertion; independent historical verification remains pending.
- Fritz Wintereditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- William Bazioteseditorial inference
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Explicit secondary-source assertion; independent historical verification remains pending.
- Albert Gleizeseditorial inference
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Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Jules Engeleditorial inference
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The biography identifies Wassily Kandinsky as an artistic influence on Jules Engel. The influence is specifically on Engel's colour use in animation at UPA. Explicit secondary-source assertion; independent historical verification remains pending.
- Seyran Khatlamajyaneditorial inference
Evidence
The biography identifies Kandinsky as an inspiration for Khatlamadjian's later abstract painting. Explicit secondary-source assertion; independent historical verification remains pending.
- Kiyoshi Saitoeditorial inference
Evidence
The biography identifies Wassily Kandinsky as an artistic influence on Kiyoshi Saitō (artist). The biography discusses these modernist influences on Saitō's printmaking, with a more specific account of Mondrian's formal example. Explicit secondary-source assertion; independent historical verification remains pending.
Artworks by year
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Finding recorded artworks…
Museums & collections
Documented holdings of works attributed to Wassily Kandinsky. Check the museum’s record for current display information.
- State Russian Museum18 recorded works
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art18 recorded works
- National Gallery of Art17 recorded works
- The Cleveland Museum of Art16 recorded works
- Art Institute of Chicago14 recorded works
- musée d'art moderne et contemporain de Strasbourg — Strasbourg12 recorded works
- Museum of Modern Art7 recorded works
- Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum6 recorded works
- Musée National d'Art Moderne5 recorded works
- Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München5 recorded works
- musée des Beaux-Arts — Nantes3 recorded works
- Hermitage Museum2 recorded works
- Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen2 recorded works
- Musée de Grenoble2 recorded works
- Tate2 recorded works
- Tretyakov Gallery2 recorded works
- Albertina1 recorded work
- Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, Athens1 recorded work
- Fondation Beyeler1 recorded work
- Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GAMeC)1 recorded work
- Kunsthaus Zürich1 recorded work
- Minneapolis Institute of Art1 recorded work
- musée des beaux-arts — Dijon1 recorded work
- musée Greuze - hôtel-Dieu — Tournus1 recorded work
- Musée Zervos (Maison Romain Rolland), Vézelay, France1 recorded work
- Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen1 recorded work
- National Museum in Wrocław1 recorded work
- Ohara Museum of Art1 recorded work
- Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe1 recorded work
Sources 11
- Wikidata (CC0)
- Austrian museum collections: independent authority research
- National Gallery of Art
- Pantheon 2025 — Datawheel (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Tate Collection metadata (October 2014 snapshot)
- Polish museum and gallery creator authorities
- Pantheon 2025 — Datawheel (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Expanded artwork research — official museum evidence
- Russian Museum — selected Russian painter catalogue facts
- Russian Museum — selected Russian painter catalogue facts
- Pantheon 2025 — Datawheel (CC BY-SA 4.0)