WASSILY KANDINSKY (1866-1944)

Promenade (Roethel 1)

Details

WASSILY KANDINSKY (1866-1944)
Promenade (Roethel 1)
woodcut in colors, 1902, on Japan, the colors good, second state (of four), before the addition of the monogram at the bottom left, signed and inscribed 'Holzschnittdruck' in white ink on the support sheet, trimmed to the subject and tipped down at the reverse of the sheet corners to a gray wove paper support sheet as issued, inscribed 'No 1 Promenade' in red chalk on the reverse of the support sheet, one small foxmark and a minor rubbed spot in the support sheet at right, otherwise in excellent condition, framed
overall S. 10 x 13 7/8in. (254 x 352mm.)

Lot Essay

Although Roethel accepts a date of 1902 for this woodcut, it is more likely that Promenade was not actually produced until the summer of 1903, when Kandinsky was in Kallmünz. Heavily influenced by both the Vienna and Berlin Secessions rather than by Vallotton and the Nabis, these early prints have a stiff, jewel-like quality. They are printed in watercolor rather than in oil and from two blocks for the colors and one for the black line, or in this case, black block.