Contrasting Sounds

Wassily Kandinsky

1924 · Oil on cardboard · Centre Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.

Complete the setHangs well with these two

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

Choose different prints →

Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

Free shipping worldwide · arrives in 4–9 business days

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

Secure checkout via Stripe

About this work

Artist: Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944)
Year: 1924
Medium: Oil on cardboard
Original size: 70 × 49.5 cm
Collection: Centre Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris
Movement: Abstract art

A pale, mottled pink ground holds a scattering of sharply drawn forms: a dark blue disc in a black ring at upper left, a black triangle pointing down, a strip of coloured squares, a black-and-white checkerboard at lower right and a zigzag of blue and white along the bottom edge. A long diagonal line cuts across the whole, and smaller arcs, wedges and dots hover in between. Kandinsky painted it on cardboard in 1924, while teaching at the Bauhaus in Weimar, at a time when he often described painting in terms borrowed from music; the title points to the clash of hard and soft, dark and light, round and angular. It belongs to the geometric phase that followed his return from Russia to Germany at the end of 1921. The work came to the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris with the bequest of Nina Kandinsky in 1981.

This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.

Where it works

Soft blush pink with a dark blue disc, black triangle and checkerboard, for a bedroom, reading corner or hallway at 16×24 in natural wood. A cream, blush or pale grey wall; it pairs with Accent in Pink.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Abstract art painting
Era: 20th century (1924)
Orientation: Portrait
Mood: classic
Rooms: bedroom, hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
Good gift for: housewarming, art lovers

Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.

Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — natural wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.

Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).

Details & materials

• Restored in-house from the original painting — cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in; every size also available framed • Framed option: wood frame in black or natural wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Printed after you order at the facility nearest you, then shipped. Standard delivery is free and takes 4–9 business days from order to door in the US, UK and EU (up to 10 elsewhere); Express takes 4–6 business days. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The image fills the print at the painting's own proportions; nothing is trimmed to fit a frame.

Is Contrasting Sounds in the public domain?

Yes. Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by Centre Pompidou.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; every size is also offered framed in black or natural wood, with plexiglass and no mat. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was Contrasting Sounds painted, and in what medium?

Contrasting Sounds dates from 1924 and was made in oil on cardboard; the original measures 70 × 49.5 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

Across a three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 is the size that reads as one statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pair. For Contrasting Sounds we'd choose 16×24.

About this design

Contrasting Sounds (Wassily Kandinsky) — Contrasting Sounds · Wassily Kandinsky · 1924. This is a fine-art reproduction of a public-domain masterwork, shown whole and uncropped on a gallery ground, printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Every size is offered unframed or framed in black or natural wood. Part of the Madten Fine Art Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

Buy with confidence

The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in 4–9 business days.

Secure checkout. Payments handled by Stripe; we never see or store your card.

Also available as