Study for Improvisation 24 (Troika II), 1911-1912 by Wassily Kandinsky

Study for Improvisation 24 (Troika II), by Wassily Kandinsky renders the fleeting impression of a troika, a traditional Russian three-horse sleigh, as a swirl of loose black ink lines, a crimson arc, and a luminous blue orb set against a warm parchment-toned wash, dissolving the subject into color and gesture rather than depicting it literally. The work reflects the rapid transition toward pure abstraction that the Russian-born painter, a founding member of Munich's Der Blaue Reiter group, made in the years around his 1911 treatise Concerning the Spiritual in Art.

Artist: Wassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866-1944). Date: 1911-1912.

Study for Improvisation 24 (Troika II). Early Abstract Expressionist Canvas Print.