621 - Wassily Kandinsky (1866 Moscow – Neuilly-sur-Seine 1944)

Wassily Kandinsky (1866 Moscow – Neuilly-sur-Seine 1944) Lady with a Fan Woodcut on fine Japanese handmade paper. (1903). Approx. 24.5 x 14.5 cm. Print run unknown. Roethel 2 I (of IV). • “Lady with a Fan” is one of Kandinsky’s most important early prints • The motif is exemplary of the fairy-tale-like, Old Russian style that characterizes Kandinsky’s early work • Only a few copies of this rare print are known to exist Kandinsky first became acquainted with various printmaking techniques as early as 1895, when he served as artistic director of the Kušnerev printing house in Moscow; however, he did not create his first woodcuts until 1902–03 in Bavaria. In April 1903, Kandinsky visited the 17th exhibition of the Vienna Secession, where he saw numerous color woodcuts by Emil Orlik, Elena Luksch-Makowsky, Carl Müller, Anton Nowak, and Leopold Stolba. He spent the following summer in Kallmünz, where he presumably taught himself the technique of woodcut printing. His student Maria Giesler recalled that Kandinsky “cut seventy plates in a row—they said, day and night—until he could do woodcuts. “We sometimes helped him with the printing (…)” (quoted from V. E. Barnett, *Das bunte Leben. Wassily Kandinsky im Lenbachhaus*, exhibition catalog, Munich 1995, p. 80). The woodcut “Lady with a Fan,” created that same year, depicts a woman wearing a richly adorned skirt, an impressive headdress, and holding a fan. She is reminiscent of Russian fairy-tale figures, elegant ladies at the Tsar’s court, and the winter magic of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Kandinsky depicts an everyday motif, yet the technique of woodcut forces him to simplify and reduce the scene. Although he still follows a narrative, fantastical storyline—particularly in his early print works—he increasingly abandons this in favor of abstraction. Provenance: Estate of Hans Konrad Roethel (1956–1971, former director of the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich), acquired directly from the artist; Collection of Jean K. Benjamin, USA; Private collection, USA, inherited from the previous owner. Taxation: subject to regular taxation (VAT: Regular Taxation).