A painting by Russian modernist Wassily Kandinsky sold for a £37.2 million (about $44.9 million), a record for this artist, at Sotheby’s in London on March 1.
Dating to 1910, “Murnau mit Kirche II" ("Murnau with Church II"), was painted by Kandinsky during his stay at an artists’ colony in Bavaria, Germany.
"Kandinsky’s Murnau period came to define abstract art for future generations, and the appearance of such an important painting—one of the last of this period and scale remaining in private hands—is a major moment for the market and for collectors,” Helena Newman, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, said in a statement.
In autumn 2022, the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, which had had the Kandinsky painting in its possession since 1951, finally restituted the Nazi-looted artwork to the heirs of its former owners - Jewish art collector couple Johanna Margarete and Siegbert Samuel Stern.
The museum acquired the painting from Karl Legat, a dealer known for his track record of processing and selling artwork seized by the Nazis in the Netherlands. After a protracted legal battle, rightful ownership was established and the heirs' descendants put the Kandinsky up for auction. It was estimated to sell for at least $45 million.
Previously, the famous 20th century Russian artist’s paintings similarly broke auction records. Back in June 2017, bidding for his 1913 canvas “Bild mit Weissen Linien" ("Painting With White Lines") spiked to £33 million pounds ($41.6 million) at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern Art sale in London. His "Murnau - Landschaft mit grünem Haus" ("Murnau - Landscape with Green House") sold for $26.4 million at the same auction, beating Kandinsky’s previous record of $23.3 million.
The record-breaking sales of Russian artwork come against the backdrop of attempts to "cancel" Russian culture over Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine. Western countries have responded by imposing comprehensive sanctions against Russia, including against its energy and cultural sectors. Russia has also faced problems with the return of its art works from overseas exhibitions, while some Western countries have canceled shows by Russian performers, or scrapped Russian literature from educational programs. Furthermore, great Russian artists have been depicted as Ukrainians, and even the great Russian poet and playwright Alexander Pushkin was introduced on one occasion as an "Afro-French figure with Russian roots" by a French diplomat.
In a spree of high-profile renaming, Arkhip Kuindzhi, Ilya Repin, and Ivan Aivazovsky were called Ukrainian artists at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. The move boasted a massive lack of basic historical knowledge, as the three were born almost two centuries ago in the Russian Empire.
Only "uneducated" people cancel Russian culture, while this country continues to promote the world's finest art, President Vladimir Putin said in late 2022.
"We appreciate the best works, best examples of other countries’ culture and also advance those ideas and humanistic principles that are embedded in these works. We are smart, while those who cancel our culture are not," Putin said.