Wassily Kandinsky - Black Dash, 1920 - On Paper

Limited Edition of 200

AT FIRST GLANCE, "BLACK DASH" APPEARS TO BE AN EXERCISE OF PURE ABSTRACTION. BUT ON CLOSER INSPECTION IT SEEMS TO HAVE SOMETHING OF THE CITY ABOUT IT. THOSE DOMINANT GREY TONES, WITH THEIR DARKER BLOTCHES AND FRINGES, RECALL THE PAVEMENTS AND GRANITE FACADES OF SAINT PETERSBURG OR MOSCOW – AS IF KANDINSKY WERE PAINTING A MEMORY OF THE COUNTRY THAT HE HAD LEFT BEHIND. THE YELLOW FORMS COULD BE READ AS GLOWING NEON STREETLAMPS; THE BLUE AND THE PARALLEL WAVES AS SLOW-MOVING RIVERS ENCASED IN MANMADE EMBANKMENTS. AS FOR THE BLACK DASH ITSELF, THE JAGGED SHAPE AT THE CENTRE OF THE PAINTING, THAT LOOKS LIKE A CRACK IN THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE COMPOSITION, AN UNMENDABLE FISSURE. THE OVERALL EFFECT OF THE WORK IS LAYERED AND COMPLEX, LIKE A MODERNIST SYMPHONY. AS KANDINSKY HIMSELF WROTE: ‘FORM ITSELF, EVEN IF COMPLETELY ABSTRACT, HAS ITS OWN INNER SOUND.’