Expected Kandinsky exhibition in Amsterdam shows rare Dutch pieces - H’ART Museum

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Expected Kandinsky exhibition in Amsterdam shows rare Dutch pieces

16 May 2024

On Wednesday 19 June, H’ART Museum in Amsterdam will open a comprehensive exhibition on one of the greatest artists of the 20th century: Wassily Kandinsky (Moscow 1866 – Paris 1944). A collaboration with the renowned Parisian Art Museum, Centre Pompidou. One of H’ART Museum’s new museum partners for the coming years. Centre Pompidou houses the most complete Kandinsky collection in the world. From which, especially for this exhibition, more than 60 artworks will soon travel to Amsterdam. On view until Sunday 10 November.

A number of paintings return, after a long time, to the country where they were once created by Kandinsky. These rare works show typical Dutch scenes from the early 20th century. From a beach scene in Scheveningen and the Rotterdam harbor to typical waterfront houses from the northern part of the Netherlands. In total, four Dutch Kandinsky paintings will be part of the exhibition in Amsterdam. These non-abstract but figurative, almost impressionistic works illustrate the artist’s early years. Made in 1904 when he spent a month in the Netherlands with artist Gabriele Münter, his partner at the time. The exhibition also features six photographs taken by Münter during the trip and two postcards. They are characteristic and artistic pictures of Dutch landscapes and Amsterdam canals. Remarkably, a sketchbook from the same trip has survived, full of drawings and studies by Kandinsky that give insight into the artist’s choice of subjects. What struck him in the Netherlands? Several Dutch sketches are digitally displayed in the exhibition. The original is kept at the museum Lenbachhaus in Munich. This Dutch Kandinsky collection not only forms a unique travelogue of two well-known artists in the Netherlands but, above all, provides a glimpse into the artistic world of Kandinsky, who was then only at the beginning of his promising career.

Towards abstract art

Wassily Kandinsky became famous for his idea of ‘autonomous’ art. Abstraction, freed from all references to reality. The exhibition gives a unique overview of his quest; a personal journey that made him one of the pioneers of abstract art. From his early figurative, almost impressionist work to the signature abstract paintings, which later evolved into more organic and hybrid forms on canvas. Including crucial works such as Mit dem schwarzen Bogen (1912), Im Grau (1919), Auf Weiss II (1923), Auf Spitzen (1928) and Entassement réglé (1938). The latter work was an Easter gift to Kandinsky’s wife Nina Kandinsky, inspired by the Fabergé eggs, made of precious stones and enamel, that the tsars traditionally gave to their wives. Some of his last paintings, such as Accord réciproque (1942) and Peinture Inachevée (1944) show the apotheosis of his work.

Note to editors, not for publication

Journalists can register for the press opening of the Kandinsky exhibition on Monday, June 17, at [email protected] stating their name and medium.

Image credits f.l.t.r.: Wassily Kandinsky, Canal in Holland, 1904. Collection Centre Pompidou. MNAMCCI/Christian Bahier et Philippe Migeat/Dist. RMNGP

Some images are available upon request. Please reach out to us via [email protected].

Contact H’ART Museum

Press and marketing communication department
Madeline van Vliet, Fleur Vroegindewey & Stella Küçüksen
+31 (0)20 530 87 55/ [email protected]

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