#10606 • Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) "Chalk and Soot"

Part of Pierre Argillet & Royal Family Art Collection (timed auction by GWS Auctions)

Starting at $1.00

Status: Sold

Est. $2,500-$3,500 Wassily Kandinsky (Russian; 1866-1944) "Chalk and Soot" Woodcut Print Signed & Numbered 7/100 in Exhibit Quality Frame From the Collection of Pierre Argillet W/COA - This piece is a woodcut print titled "Chalk and Soot", by Wassily Kandinsky. Kandinsky’s name is synonymous with colorful, radical abstraction, however in his early career before he completed his fully abstract works, he created figurative, evocative works on paper, largely in black and white. These woodcuts challenged the artist to reduce compositions and narratives to simplified, expressionistic forms, often using just black ink or limited palettes. After meeting Wassily Kandinsky's widow Nina, publisher Pierre Argillet became especially interested in Kandinsky's woodcuts, resulting in the publication of these works. Argillet was a famous art collector and publisher, who collaborated with and was close friends with Salvador Dali for fifty years, and this piece comes from his personal collection. This is the first time this collection has been offered at auction, and the piece will come with a certificate of authenticity from the Museum of Surrealism in Melun, France (Pierre Argillet's former home "Chateau Vaux-le-Penil" and former museum). This was a limited edition piece, and is numbered 7/100 and signed in plate in the lower left corner. The piece is also embossed with a "K" stamp, underneath the numbering. The piece measures approx. 25"L x 15"W, and has been framed in a beautiful, exhibit quality frame. Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian painter and art theorist, regarded as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. He was born in Moscow in 1866, and studied art in Munich. Kandinsky holds a vital place in the history of modern art as a founder member of the groundbreaking Blue Rider group (der Blaue Reiter) and the progenitor of pure abstraction in painting. He is credited with painting one of the first recognized purely abstract works. Kandinsky's work, both artistic and theoretical, played a large role in the philosophic foundation for later modern movements, in particular Abstract Expressionism and its variants like Color Field painting.