Lot Essay
Afrika belongs to a series of fourteen watercolours which Kandinsky executed during his visit to Stockholm between December 1915 and March 1916. Considered one of the most important pieces of this period, the work has remained undiscovered since it was last exhibited at Gummeson's gallery in Stockholm in 1932. In the first volume of her catalogue raisonné of watercolours, Vivian Endicott Barnett writes, "The only trace of this lost work is a small sketch in the Handlist of bagatelles and a reference in a letter of 22 November 1917 (brought to my attention by Annika Ohrner). Médens Bokhandel in Gothenburg wrote to Münter stating that a Mrs Lignell, a friend of a Dr Jacobsen, was very interested in the work but found the price too high. Since the watercolour appeared in the 1932 Kandinsky exhibition at Gummesons Konsthandel in 1932, it is assumed that the work had, in fact, not been sold in Gothenburg in 1917 but went back to the Stockholm art dealer."
Of the so called Bagatelles which Kandinsky exhibited in Stockholm, Afrika relates most closely to numbers 4 and 5 on his Handlist. The first of these, Piknik (Barnett 432) is now in the collection of the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York whilst the other, Vögel (Barnett 434) is in a private collection in Europe. Aside from their obvious similarities in imagery and handling, all three works are executed on a very high quality wove paper which has wonderfully preserved the original colours of the works. Judging from the relative sizes of the sheets it would appear that they all came from the same batch.
When Afrika was first exhibited by Gummeson in 1916 Kandinsky recorded in his Handlist that it was to be offered at 500 Kronor, making it amongst the dearest watercolours on offer and not much less expensive than the large scale oils which were being sold at 1500 Kronor in the same exhibition. The prices reflect Kandinsky's own judgement of their relative importance. During this period he executed few oils, preferring instead to concentrate on watercolour. Writing to Gabriele Münter on 16 November 1915, he says: "I am working a lot in watercolor. It's very precise work and I have, so to speak, to learn the silversmith's art. They prepare me for the large paintings which are slowly taking shape in my soul. I would like to make a large painting with enormous depth and achieve an effect of great distance with subtle means which one discovers only by coming close to the canvas - an idea which I have already explored in the paintings you have seen - but now I understand it in a broader and more practical sense, which is the result of the many watercolours done recently".
(V. E. Barnett, Kandinsky and Sweden, p. 31.)
We are grateful to Vivian Endicott Barnett for her assistance in cataloguing this work which will be illustrated in the appendix to the second volume of her catalogue raisonné of Kandinsky watercolours currently in preparation.
Of the so called Bagatelles which Kandinsky exhibited in Stockholm, Afrika relates most closely to numbers 4 and 5 on his Handlist. The first of these, Piknik (Barnett 432) is now in the collection of the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York whilst the other, Vögel (Barnett 434) is in a private collection in Europe. Aside from their obvious similarities in imagery and handling, all three works are executed on a very high quality wove paper which has wonderfully preserved the original colours of the works. Judging from the relative sizes of the sheets it would appear that they all came from the same batch.
When Afrika was first exhibited by Gummeson in 1916 Kandinsky recorded in his Handlist that it was to be offered at 500 Kronor, making it amongst the dearest watercolours on offer and not much less expensive than the large scale oils which were being sold at 1500 Kronor in the same exhibition. The prices reflect Kandinsky's own judgement of their relative importance. During this period he executed few oils, preferring instead to concentrate on watercolour. Writing to Gabriele Münter on 16 November 1915, he says: "I am working a lot in watercolor. It's very precise work and I have, so to speak, to learn the silversmith's art. They prepare me for the large paintings which are slowly taking shape in my soul. I would like to make a large painting with enormous depth and achieve an effect of great distance with subtle means which one discovers only by coming close to the canvas - an idea which I have already explored in the paintings you have seen - but now I understand it in a broader and more practical sense, which is the result of the many watercolours done recently".
(V. E. Barnett, Kandinsky and Sweden, p. 31.)
We are grateful to Vivian Endicott Barnett for her assistance in cataloguing this work which will be illustrated in the appendix to the second volume of her catalogue raisonné of Kandinsky watercolours currently in preparation.