His Auction Record Was Broken Twice Within Minutes
Kandinsky's 1909 painting "Murnau – landschaft mit grünem haus" ("Murnau – landscape with greenhouse") was sold for £21 million ($26.4 million) at Sotheby's Impressionist and modern art sale in London on June 21, 2017. His painting "Sketch for Improvisation No. 8" held the previous record of $23 million. Murnau is a work by Kandinsky created in the early stages of his transition from figuration to abstraction. The work, on the other hand, only held the record for a few minutes. Six lots later, "Bild mit Weissen Linien" ("Painting With White Lines") became the most expensive Kandinsky painting sold at auction, fetching £33 million ($41.6 million) following a 13-minute bidding war.
Painting With White Lines is a significant abstract painting from 1913 that focuses on color. Until this article was updated, it held the auction record for Kandinsky. It's worth noting that his most famous paintings are in museums, so we don't know how much they cost.
