A painting titled Tensions calmées (1937) by Wassily Kandinsky is being offered by Sotheby’s at its Impressionist and modern art evening sale in London on June 29.
The painting was last offered in 1964 at Sotheby’s sale of 50 Kandinsky paintings from the collection of the artist’s friend Solomon R. Guggenheim. The painting has been in the same private American family collection since 1964. The painting is coming to an auction after 57 years and is expected to fetch $25 million–$35 million.
The painting was completed after the artist’s move to Paris in 1933. The artist made some of his most important works that relate to music during this period. Tensions calmées was included in the 1947 memorial exhibition that Guggenheim organized after Kandinsky’s death in 1944.
“If there is one pairing which epitomizes the connectedness between art and music, it is the chance encounter between Kandinsky and composer Arnold Schoenberg at the start of the 20th century,” Helena Newman, Sotheby’s worldwide head of Impressionist and modern art, said in a statement. “This great masterpiece of abstraction stands as one of the most important works by Kandinsky to come to auction in the last ten years.”
If the work reaches its low estimate, it will be among the top three most expensive works by the artist sold at auction. The current record auction price for the artist is $41 million, paid for Painting with White Lines (1913) in 2017 at Sotheby’s in London.