Vassily Kandinsky

Russian, 1866-1944

Fragment 2 for Composition VII, 1913

oil on canvas

support: 34 1/2 x 39 1/4 inches (87.63 x 99.69 cm); framed: 45 1/2 x 50 x 3 inches

Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York

Room of Contemporary Art Fund, 1947

RCA1947:1

Collection Highlight

More Details

Inscriptions

signature, dated / lower left / Kandinsky / 1913

Provenance

the artist;
collection Sir Michael Sadler, 1913;
to Leicester Galleries, London, 1944;
sold to Douglas Cooper, February 1944;
sold to Curt Valentin, New York, 1947;
sold to the Albright Art Gallery, May 14, 1947

Class

Paintings

Work Type

Oil painting

This information may change due to ongoing research. Glossary of Terms

Fragment 2 for Composition VII is one of several preparatory studies Vassily Kandinsky made for the final painting Composition VII, 1913, which point to the artist’s interest in the relationship between music and visual art. This focus dates to the late 1890s, when Kandinsky discovered the philosophy of architect and designer August Endell (German, 1871–1925) while studying art in Munich. Endell believed that art could emulate the effect of music on the senses, creating beauty without reference to anything recognizable in nature. By the time Kandinsky created Fragment 2 for Composition VII, he had already formed a network of like-minded artists who called themselves Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). This informal intellectual and philosophical group focused on metaphysical and symbolic issues in art, avowing that abstraction was the pathway to a utopian society and a new spiritual age. They chose the color blue as part of their name given its associations with transcendence, and the rider can be understood to symbolize energy, joy, positive action, and transformation. In his own work, Kandinsky focused heavily on pure color as a mode of communication. Throughout this painting, for example, light and dark shades of blue draw the viewer’s eye to multiple abstract forms, leading the viewer to observe each element patiently and introspectively before experiencing the overall composition.