“Painting is the reflection of all the beauty that the Universe offers us.”
(Jean-Étienne Liotard, “The Chocolate Girl”)
Our lives are multifaceted and unpredictable. While in the United States, in California, I had the honor of being invited to a magnificent ranch belonging to a renowned architect, passionate collector, and simply an extraordinary individual with profound knowledge of art, music, culture, and world history, and above all, a refined connoisseur of painting.
Upon entering the hall, my astonishment knew no bounds. The walls of the luxurious mansion were adorned with works by some of the greatest artists of world significance, among them Ivan Aivazovsky, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Martiros Saryan, Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, Salvador Dalí, Hans Erni, Jean Garzou, and many other outstanding masters of painting.
As I admired these truly museum-worthy masterpieces, my attention was drawn to a remarkable work signed by Wassily Kandinsky. The artist’s name certainly requires no introduction, yet the painting itself — an unknown canvas dated 1928 — immediately intrigued me. A burning curiosity prompted further research, for every painting requires attribution and scholarly understanding. Thus began a meticulous and painstaking search for information and source material.
Every work of art, or “art object” (from the Latin ars), is a unique and unrepeatable creation produced by an artist, reflecting technical mastery, artistic embodiment, worldview, and philosophical contemplation of existence.
Undoubtedly, one of the most brilliant and influential creators of twentieth-century visual art was Wassily Kandinsky. An experimental artist and theorist of painting who stood at the origins of abstractionism, he made an immense contribution to the development of twentieth-century art. His works are housed in the world’s finest museums, while Russia, Germany, and France each lay claim to his artistic heritage.
In the twentieth century, Russian painting emerged at the forefront of world art. This pivotal era gave rise to abstractionism, which in turn resonated throughout the later development of modern design, new architectural styles, decorative and industrial arts. By dismantling the principles of classical heritage, developing innovative methods and artistic approaches, and experimenting with diverse forms of expression, the avant-garde contributed to the formation and evolution of photography, cinema, and numerous genres of musical art.
Abstract painting was an invention that shattered the classical ideal of beauty in art, granting complete freedom of self-expression. The objective of avant-garde artists was the creation of subjectivity, characterized by “universalism,” founded upon a universal model of world order.
As the founder of abstractionism, Kandinsky inspired and profoundly influenced such distinguished artists as Alexander Rodchenko, Mikhail Larionov, Yuri Zlotnikov, Kazimir Malevich, El Lissitzky, Mark Rothko, Pavel Filonov, Paul Klee, Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, František Kupka, Willem de Kooning, and many others.
The twentieth century was an era of immense upheavals, historic events, global contradictions, and new explorations and discoveries in science, culture, and art.
Contemporary artists often appear as tempters of society: “everything is for sale.” By contrast, the artists of the early twentieth century were innovators, modernists, and pioneers. Yet there are also artists who remain enigmas — intellectual puzzles and messages to humanity — compelling thoughtful viewers to contemplate, compare, and analyze. Every painting demands knowledge, understanding, and a certain preparedness for perception, rather than passive observation. Marcel Duchamp once stated: “I want to put brains where there were once only eyes.” These words precisely characterize Kandinsky’s art, his aspiration to convey to the viewer the depth of thought, philosophical conception, riotous palette, and symphony of color.
Not every viewer is capable of perceiving the works of a genius due to the complexity and originality of his thinking, as well as differing artistic preferences. Nevertheless, the influence of this avant-garde master on subsequent generations of artists and on the entirety of twentieth-century painting is indisputable. The aesthetic impact, uniqueness, and originality of his works leave an indelible impression. Through abstractionism, we may observe the birth, development, and transformation of numerous trends in visual art.
In 1910, in Germany, Kandinsky created his first abstract watercolor, Untitled, in which he expressed “the beautiful impulses of the soul” through the blending of various tonal harmonies. The work is notable for its experimental technique, combining watercolor, ink, and pencil. Today, this composition is housed in the National Museum of Georgia.
The idea of creating a new vision of the world emerged when Kandinsky encountered Claude Monet’s Haystack at an exhibition in Moscow in 1896. Later, Richard Wagner’s opera Lohengrin made an equally profound impression upon him. Kandinsky realized that if a painting were “turned upside down,” the impression would become intensified. Through abstract perception in painting, aesthetic concepts and the hidden laws of the universe concealed behind outward reality could be comprehended.
Rejecting the academic realism of traditional painting, abstractionism transmitted visual devices, structural lines, and geometric forms rooted in spiritual quests and “cosmic visions.” Kandinsky’s ideal perception lay in the harmony of the surrounding world. His works possess magnetism, mystery, and a distinctive color-form relationship that irresistibly attracts the viewer’s attention. Explosions of color and form, musical sounds, illumination, powerful dynamism, and the rare ability to “see” sound and “hear” color became characteristic features of Kandinsky’s innovation, grounded in organic abstraction intended to astonish and captivate.
It should also be noted that a significant role in the development of the artist’s creative potential was played by his studies at the renowned private art school of Anton Ažbe in Munich, which possessed a unique pedagogical system. Combining openness to new ideas with rigorous technical training, Ažbe’s method fostered the individuality of students who later found themselves within various artistic movements. The progression from realism to impressionism, then from expressionism to abstractionism, together with the “principle of the sphere” and the “principle of crystallization” of color, as well as the cultivated sense of color and form, became crucial elements in Kandinsky’s art, enabling him to synthesize fantastical visions within his imagination.
Returning to the work that inspired this research, we know that the painting dates from 1928, a period during which Kandinsky resided in Germany. On the reverse side of the aged paper appears a dedication handwritten by Kandinsky himself: “To my dear Otto Rank. My warmest wishes.” During these years, Kandinsky became deeply interested in esotericism, theosophy, philosophy, cosmology, and psychoanalysis, correlating dreams and mythology with artistic creativity.
Otto Rank, the Austrian psychotherapist, was known to be a friend of Sigmund Freud and Kandinsky. Professor Rank exerted a certain influence on Kandinsky’s worldview. In the 1928 work under discussion, one may discern an entire conceptual framework linked to Rank’s psychoanalytic theories and his studies of culture, religion, and mythology, including The Trauma of Birth and Artist and Art. Kandinsky and Rank were kindred spirits. Although Rank’s ideas were related to Freudianism, they diverged in certain respects; Kandinsky, however, fully shared Rank’s perspective.
As both researcher and psychologist, Kandinsky devoted immense attention to the creativity of the human spirit, striving to uncover the unconscious. For Rank, the value of psychoanalysis lay in revealing the influence of unconscious factors upon artistic creativity, consciousness, morality, and religion. In this sense, his intellectual affinity with Kandinsky was profound.
For Kandinsky, the study of visual thinking and the psychology of perception held immense significance. Painting, in its emotional resonance and impact, resembled music. Understanding the world was grounded in emotional perception, color, form, intellectual awareness, and analytical reflection upon reality.
This watercolor, miraculously saved from destruction during the Nazi campaign against so-called “degenerate art,” was painted in the German city of Braunschweig and bears Kandinsky’s own signature. It powerfully captures the imagination.
The serpent depicted in the painting represents a biblical motif symbolizing the temptation of Adam and Eve. The concept of the interrelation of emotion, color, sound, and form fascinated Kandinsky, and the interaction of these elements delighted him profoundly. Cosmism, movement in music, the music of color, non-objective painting, and the synthesis of the arts constituted the principal dominants of his творчество.
As we contemplate the work, we experience an inner tension conveyed through lines, color patches, and geometric abstraction. The activation of color combined with graphic signs compels reflection upon the existence of symbolic meaning within the composition.
Kandinsky was an aesthete, for within the beauty he presented there exists harmony formed through carefully constructed composition and chromatic richness. This work is profoundly intellectual and avant-garde, evoking images of spacecraft, the cosmos, planetary consciousness, geometric elements, and the dynamic resonance of color. It suggests that Kandinsky, long before humanity’s scientific conquest of outer space, already dreamed of and mentally traversed the expanses of the Universe.
The artist immerses us in the process of cosmic exploration as early as 1928, when even scientists scarcely imagined spaceflight. Circles occupy a central place in the composition — geometric forms to which Kandinsky attributed special significance. These circles frequently appear in his abstract works as symbols of infinite energy, particles of the sun, inner tension, and the power of sound and color. They possess a planetary meaning, symbolizing flight into intergalactic space and toward the future.
Within this painting one senses a hidden message: humanity stands on the threshold of monumental transformations. In this regard, Kandinsky emerges as a visionary and futurist. For the artist, the expression of inner experience was connected with improvisation, while the highest form of abstraction was composition itself.
Historical and cultural analysis combined with structural-semiotic interpretation of Kandinsky’s work provides a vivid understanding of the artist’s uniqueness, originality of thought, and creative interpretation bordering upon scientific vision, multidimensional perception of space, and philosophical comprehension of existence.
The miraculous survival of this 1928 work — which we may tentatively call Flight into Space — from destruction by the German Reich constitutes a unique discovery demanding special scholarly attention. Never previously exhibited, the work deserves deep investigation and meticulous analysis by specialists studying the oeuvre of this artist of global significance.
It is known that in 1928 Kandinsky obtained German citizenship and lived in Germany until 1933, where he not only created remarkable paintings but also experimented in new artistic directions. He staged Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition for the theater, combining classical music with abstract painting, elements of light art, and choreography. This production became a landmark phenomenon and achieved overwhelming success, since no comparable experiments in the interpretation and staging of musical compositions had previously existed.
Thus, it becomes evident that the year 1928 was exceptionally productive for Kandinsky. He was full of creative energy, innovative ideas, and new interpretations in painting, music, and artistic experimentation.
The period from 1928 to 1933 was characterized by the master’s transition from figurative painting to abstraction. Following the rise of National Socialism in Germany, the spread of the fascist regime, the closure of the Bauhaus (where Kandinsky taught from 1922 to 1933), and his subsequent dismissal as a supposedly “dangerous” artist whose work was labeled “degenerate,” many of his paintings were threatened with destruction. Kandinsky was forced to leave Germany and emigrate to France.
In Paris, between 1933 and 1939, Kandinsky created approximately 300 watercolors and 159 oil paintings. His final work, Composition X, was completed in France in 1939.
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that the oeuvre of this artist, who made an immense contribution to the development of innovative avant-garde art, has not yet been fully explored. The discovery discussed in this article serves as clear evidence of this fact. Who knows — perhaps one day this work will appear at one of the world’s leading auctions and be sold for an extraordinary sum. It is no coincidence that Kandinsky’s paintings have repeatedly achieved astonishing prices, making him one of the most expensive avant-garde artists of the twentieth century.
In 2017, his Painting with White Lines was sold at Sotheby’s for $41.6 million. In 2023, Murnau with Church II achieved a record price of $44.9 million.
Perhaps the very work described in this study, dated 1928 and tentatively titled Message to Humanity, will someday become a sensational lot at prestigious international auctions, for the works of Russian artists have always remained highly valued and admired by collectors and connoisseurs throughout the world.
Candidate of History and Philosophy, Assistant Professor of Moscow State. Automobile and Road Construction University (MADI), Russia, Moscow
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