LONDON.- Christie's will present Wassily Kandinsky's, Das bunte Leben (1907) as one of the leading highlights of its 20/21 Marquee Frieze Week. This monumental canvas will be offered in the 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale on 14 October 2026. Restituted to the heirs of Hedwig Lewenstein-Weyermannin in June 2023, Das bunte Leben is widely regarded as the defining achievement of Kandinsky's formative years and was exhibited to critical acclaim at the Salon d'Automne in Paris in the year it was created.
Kandinsky and Paris (1904-1908)
During the years 1904–1908, the Parisian avant-garde was abuzz with new voices and experimental techniques, ushering in a dramatic new era of modern painting. Key exhibitions showcased the work of pioneering figures such as Paul Cézanne, Georges Seurat and Vincent van Gogh, as well as an array of different styles and movements, from Pointillism and Post-Impressionism to Fauvism and early Cubism. Drawn by the innovation of the city's art scene, Kandinsky arrived in this fervent environment in 1906 for an extended stay, alongside his paramour and fellow painter Gabriele Münter. Living first on the Rue des Ursulines before relocating to nearby Sèvres, Kandinsky and Münter immersed themselves in the thriving avant-garde of Paris, making regular visits to the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d'Automne, while exploring progressive dealers including Berthe Weill, Ambroise Vollard and Clovis Sagot, as well as the celebrated collections of the Stein family.
These encounters placed Kandinsky in direct dialogue with the most radical artistic developments of the time, profoundly transforming his vision. The optical innovations of Pointillism, the expressive colour of Fauvism, the poetic imagination of Symbolism and Art Nouveau, and the experimentation of Post-Impressionism all left a lasting impression on the artist. Rather than adopting any single style, Kandinsky absorbed these diverse influences into an increasingly personal pictorial language, recognising colour not merely as a descriptive device but as an autonomous expressive force capable of conveying emotion and spiritual meaning.
Painted in 1907 and measuring 130 x 163 cm, Das bunte Leben was the largest canvas Kandinsky had attempted thus far in his career. As such, it was an ambitious artistic statement intended for a large public audience, and marked a decisive turning point in Kandinsky's art. With this painting, he sought to cement his reputation and earn his position among the leading figures of the Paris art-scene. To this end, Kandinsky chose to tackle a subject of deep artistic significance that would resonate with a Parisian audience – the absorbingly complex play of life, set within a magical, utopian world – a theme that paralleled Henri Matisse's Bonheur de vivre (1905-1906) and Andre Derain's La Danse (1906).
Motifs and technique
Das bunte Leben stands as the fullest expression of this remarkable period of experimentation. Animated by dazzling, mosaic-like passages of luminous colour, the painting demonstrates Kandinsky's growing confidence as he forged his distinctly modern artistic vision. Although influenced by the revolutionary ideas he encountered in Paris, the work remained strongly linked to the cultural traditions of his native country, bringing together seemingly different worlds in one of his earliest masterpieces. Across the vast surface of the painting, pilgrims, peasants, saints, noble figures, mothers and children inhabit a timeless pastoral landscape where joy and sorrow, love and loss, life and death coexist in harmonious balance. Rather than telling a single story, Kandinsky offers a universal view of humanity and a richly layered meditation on the beauty, complexity and contradictions of lived experience.
Many of the characters portrayed are inspired by the legends, folklore and religious traditions of Russia that had long fascinated the artist. The mounted horseman seen among the trees is a precursor to the well-known Blaue Reiter motif which later became associated with Kandinsky's artistic identity, while other figures resemble saints and heroes from Russian iconography. Rather than telling a specific story, these motifs serve as symbols through which Kandinsky explores universal themes, transforming personal memories into a timeless and human vision.
An important restitution story
The painting also carries an exceptional provenance that reflects one of the most significant restitution stories in recent years. In November 1927, Das bunte Leben was acquired by the Amsterdam businessman and collector Emanuel Albert Lewenstein and his wife, Hedwig Lewenstein-Weyermann. Emanuel directed the renowned Lewenstein sewing machine company, whose innovative manufacturing and commercial success made it one of the Netherlands' best-known industrial enterprises. Alongside his achievements in business, Lewenstein assembled an outstanding collection of modern art that reflected the experimental tastes of a new generation of Dutch collectors during the inter-war period.
The family's collection combined important Dutch artists with works by leading figures of the European avant-garde, influenced in part by Emanuel's cousin, the artist and Bauhaus-trained photographer Paul Citroen, whose close connections with Berlin's progressive artistic circles introduced the family to Expressionism and Modernism.
The Second World War brought tragedy to the Lewenstein family. Following the German occupation of the Netherlands, the family's assets were confiscated: in October 1940, only months after the invasion, works from the Lewenstein collection were dispersed. Kandinsky's Das bunte Leben, removed from the Stedelijk Museum where it was on loan, was sold at auction and purchased by collector Salomon B. Slijper, and was afterwards for most of the time kept in museum custody in the Netherlands before later being acquired by Bayerische Landesbank from Slijper's family in 1972. It was placed on long-term loan to the Lenbachhaus in Munich in 1973, where it remained on public view for more than fifty years. After the war, Emanuel and Hedwig's children, Robert and Wilhelmine Lewenstein, devoted decades to tracing the fate of their parents' collection. Following extensive provenance research and legal action undertaken in collaboration with their advisors, Mondex Corporation, the heirs of Hedwig Lewenstein-Weyermann secured the restitution of the painting from Bayerische Landesbank in June 2023.
Marc Porter, Chairman, Christie's Americas: “Kandinsky's Das bunte Leben is much more than an early masterpiece: it captures a moment when different influences were coming together in the artist's practice, and points towards the radical move into abstraction that would follow. We are honoured to be presenting this landmark, museum-quality painting in our upcoming 20/21 Marquee Week in London. The restitution of Das bunte Leben to the heirs of Hedwig Lewenstein-Weyermann, following more than fifty years on long-term loan to the Lenbachhaus in Munich, represents an important moment in the painting's history. Its return to the market marks the beginning of a new chapter for a work that holds such a significant place in modern art.”
Keith Gill, Vice Chairman 20/21 at Christie's: “I first encountered the monumental Das bunte Leben at the Lenbachhaus in Munich many years ago, where it stood out as a remarkable work amidst many masterpieces by Kandinsky. Das bunte leben is not just a turning point in Kandinsky's oeuvre, but also one of the great turning points in the story of modern painting. Kandinsky is no longer simply depicting the world around him, but beginning to imagine how painting might communicate something beyond the visible. Colour assumes an unprecedented expressive intensity, while the figures and landscape become part of a larger vision of human experience. Following its landmark restitution to the heirs of Hedwig Lewenstein-Weyermann it is a privilege for Christie's to be entrusted with its sale in our upcoming 20th/21st Century: London Evening Sale, where I am sure it will be appreciated by a new generation of collectors.”
Das bunte Leben will be presented at Christie's Zurich (2-4 September), Paris (10-12 September), New York (17-20 September) and Hong Kong (22-29 September), and will be on view to the public at Christie's London from 8 October 2026.
