Wassily Kandinsky
Penetrating Green
1937
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Wassily Kandinsky
Penetrating Green
1937
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, 29 3/16 x 49 3/8 in. (74.1 x 125.4 cm.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Saidie A. May
Object Number
1951.310
Kandinsky began his career in Russia as a painter of realistic landscapes, but over time, his work became increasingly abstract. His rigorous intellectual and spiritual exploration of color and form helped him become one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century. Kandinsky worked in Munich before World War I, later moving to the Bauhaus School in Dessau, Germany. By the time he painted Penetrating Green, he was living in Paris and had begun introducing biomorphic forms into his compositions. These works reflect not only Kandinsky’s interest in biology but also reveal the influence of Surrealist paintings, such as the works of Joan Miró (on view nearby).
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1951; The Baltimore Museum of Art on extended loan, 1948-1951; Saidie A. May, by purchase 1948; from Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, by purchase; from Mme. Kandinsky, Paris.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "The Saidie A. May Collection of Modern paintings and Sculpture," March 17- April 16, 1950, cat. 52.
Denver Art Museum, "Ten by Ten," 1954.
Pomona College, "Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of his Birth," February 9 - March 6, 1966.
Columbus (Ohio) Gallery of Fine Arts, November 9 - December 4, 1967.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "20th Century European Paintings and Sculpture," July 9 - September 23, 1969.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Saidie A. May Collection," September 6 - October 22, 1972, p. 75, ill.
Allentown Art Museum, "The Blue Four and German Expressionism," March 10 - April 21, 1974, no. 28, ill. p. 14.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, "Kandinsky in Paris: 1934-1944," February 15 - April 14, 1985; MFA Houston, June 8 - August, 1985; Palazzo Reale, Milan, October 12 - November 3, 1985; Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna December 2 1985 - January 16, 1986.
Helen Molesworth and Katy Rothkopf, BMA, "European Abstraction from the Collection 1912-1948," February 28 - December 2, 2001.
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Impressionism to Surrealism from The Baltimore Museum of Art. Selections from the Collection of Claribel and Etta Cone, Saidie Adler May and Blanche Adler, February 8 - April 21, 2002, no. 14 pp. 15-16, ill.
Denver Art Museum, "Ten by Ten," 1954.
Pomona College, "Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of his Birth," February 9 - March 6, 1966.
Columbus (Ohio) Gallery of Fine Arts, November 9 - December 4, 1967.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "20th Century European Paintings and Sculpture," July 9 - September 23, 1969.
The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Saidie A. May Collection," September 6 - October 22, 1972, p. 75, ill.
Allentown Art Museum, "The Blue Four and German Expressionism," March 10 - April 21, 1974, no. 28, ill. p. 14.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, "Kandinsky in Paris: 1934-1944," February 15 - April 14, 1985; MFA Houston, June 8 - August, 1985; Palazzo Reale, Milan, October 12 - November 3, 1985; Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna December 2 1985 - January 16, 1986.
Helen Molesworth and Katy Rothkopf, BMA, "European Abstraction from the Collection 1912-1948," February 28 - December 2, 2001.
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Impressionism to Surrealism from The Baltimore Museum of Art. Selections from the Collection of Claribel and Etta Cone, Saidie Adler May and Blanche Adler, February 8 - April 21, 2002, no. 14 pp. 15-16, ill.
The Baltimore Museum of Art News, “Catalogue of the Saidie A. May Collection of Modern Paintings and Sculpture,” March, 1950, cat. 52, p. 16.
Hans K. Roethel and Jean K. Benjamin, "Kandinsky Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil-Paintings, Volume Two 1916-1944," Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1984, cat. 1089, p. 983.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, "Kandinsky in Paris: 1934-1944," New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1985, cat. 93, p. 158.
Jeffrey Weiss, "Late Kandinsky: from Apocalypse to Perpetual Motion," "Art in America," no.9, September 1985, pp 118-125.
Susan Helen Adler, "Saidie May Pioneer of Early 20th Century Collecting" Baltimore: Stonehouse Design, 2008, p. 231.
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