Vasily KandinskyFrench, 1866–1944Study for Improvisation V
May one see it?
Yes, receiving visitors
Minneapolis Institute of Art
RoomG377Minneapolis, United States
On public display.
- Checked
- 4 hours ago
- In this state since
- Sep 25, 2026
- Source
- The museum's own collection data
About the painting
This landscape evokes Biblical stories of the Apocalypse, which foretold Christ's second coming. In the foreground, a woman in blue kneels before a tall figure with streaming golden hair, possibly Christ, while in the background two horsemen of the Apocalypse vault a fence.
As a pioneer of abstract painting, Vassily Kandinsky thought art could make inner truths visible. An improvisation, he said, was a largely unconscious, spontaneous expression of inner character, or non-material (i.e., spiritual) nature. Kandinsky wanted painting to function like music, using colors and forms like melodies and rhythms—abstractly—to summon emotion.
Frame: Gift of Galerie Thomas, Munich, Germany.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Particulars
- Accession number
- 67.34.2
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art: the museum's own open data · fetched 4 days ago
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — © Minneapolis Institute of Art
Meanwhile, in the life of Vasily Kandinsky
The whole life1906–1908
Years of travel across Europe; the Blue Rose
From 1906 to 1908 Kandinsky travelled a great deal across Europe, was an associate of the Moscow symbolist group the Blue Rose, and then settled in the small Bavarian town of Murnau.
1908–1909
Murnau and Münter's “Russian House”
Gabriele Münter bought a summer house in Murnau, where the couple happily entertained colleagues; it is still known as the “Russenhaus”. Later Münter used its basement to hide many works by Kandinsky and others from the Nazis.
1909
President of the Neue Künstlervereinigung München
Kandinsky helped found the Neue Künstlervereinigung München and became its president. The group dissolved in late 1911: it could not reconcile the radical approach of Kandinsky and others with conventional ideas of art.
1910–1911
The treatise “Concerning the Spiritual in Art”
The treatise defended and promoted abstract art and affirmed that all forms of art are equally capable of reaching spirituality; colour in a painting can be autonomous, apart from the depiction of an object. Kandinsky distinguished three kinds of painting: impressions, improvisations and compositions.
1911
The birth of the Blue Rider
After the earlier association dissolved Kandinsky formed the Blue Rider with August Macke, Franz Marc, Albert Bloch and Gabriele Münter. The group issued an almanac and held two exhibitions; the war ended further plans.
1911
His first solo exhibition
His first solo exhibition took place in the same years, when the Blue Rider was being born.
_MET_DP236124.jpg?width=1280)
