Contrasting Sounds
1924 · Oil on cardboard · Centre Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris
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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 full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. 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 18×24 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 18×24. Prints at 12×16, 18×24, 24×32 in — 12×16 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 18×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×32 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Contrasting Sounds in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Contrasting Sounds painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
