Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons)

1913

In his 1912 book Concerning the Spiritual in Art, Vasily Kandinsky advocated for an art that could move beyond imitation of the physical world, inspiring, as he put it, “vibrations in the soul.” Between 1910 and 1914 he produced a series of “improvisations," which he described as unconscious, spontaneous expressions. This painting—one of his first improvisations—is a standout work within the museum's modern art collection.

Public domain · CC0
Free to download and reuse. Image courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist

Vasily Kandinsky Born Moscow (formerly Russian Empire, now Russia), 1866; died Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, 1944

Date

1913

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

111 × 111.3 cm (43 11/16 × 43 13/16 in.)

Origin

Germany

Collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Credit

Arthur Jerome Eddy Memorial Collection