Lot 208 Dα

“The overall characteristic of the pictures that were completed by 1933 is first and foremost the spirituality that also extends to the domains of the mathematical and constructive, his incredible empathy for the fields of physics and their use for the world of painterly innovations. […] Standing in front of them one thinks of phenomena that would not become topical until after Kandinsky's death, such as space exploration and earth satellites. […] For Kandinsky art is invention, not reproduction, and consequently pictures can only be intended as analogy. But it would hardly be surprising if Kandinsky, as he did prior to 1914, were to look into the future and anticipate a coming world whose imagery is already reality.” (Will Grohmann, Wassily Kandinsky. Leben und Werk, Cologne 1958, p. 211).
If one considers our large-format ink drawing from the year 1927 those outstanding qualities in the work of Kandinsky Will Grohmann attempts to describe with these words are evident at first glance. They resemble the visualization of invisible radio waves: the typical lines and arrow shapes transmitted skywards from a steeply rising formon the right side of the picture. Kandinsky created the drawing in 1927 and dedicated it to Grohmann in December 1932 - at a time when the Nazis had already shut down the Bauhaus in Dessau.
As he had also done for Klee, Grohmann honoured Kandinsky as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, not only with the major monograph published in 1958 but also as an exhibition organizer and art critic. The special relationship between the artist and critic is also revealed in the roughly 24 works in his collection including important paintings, watercolours, drawings and prints (cf. exhib. cat. Im Netzwerk der Moderne, Dresden 2012-3, catalogue volume p. 191).