Little Painting with Yellow (Improvisation)

Wassily Kandinsky

1914 · Oil on canvas · Philadelphia Museum of Art

Size4:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

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Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

Little Painting with Yellow (Improvisation)

Painting with Troika

Impression III (Concert)

3 × $59 at 24 × 18 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

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

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About this work

Artist: Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944)
Year: 1914
Medium: Oil on canvas
Original size: 78.7 × 100.3 cm
Collection: Philadelphia Museum of Art
Movement: Abstract art

A wide band of creamy yellow curls through the canvas like a breaking wave, edged with green, white and pink and crossed by thin black lines; around it sit a dark green arc, red patches, a fringed golden disc at upper right and small spiky bursts of red and black. There is no single focus, and the eye moves round the composition in loops. Kandinsky painted it in Munich in 1914, the last year of his Blue Rider period, and the subtitle Improvisation places it among the pictures he described as spontaneous expressions of inner feeling. Its modest size and light, open colour set it apart from the crowded Compositions of 1913. It belonged to the collectors Louise and Walter Arensberg and is now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

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

Creamy yellow looping through green, pink and red with fine black lines, for a kitchen, breakfast room or living room at 24×18 in natural wood. A white, butter-yellow or sage wall; it pairs with Painting on Light Ground.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Abstract art painting
Era: 20th century (1914)
Orientation: Landscape
Palette: butter yellow
Mood: classic
Rooms: living room, kitchen, dining room
Good gift for: housewarming, art lovers

Size. We'd hang this one at 24×18. Prints at 16×12, 24×18 in — 16×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×18 above a console or sideboard.

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: 16×12, 24×18 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 Little Painting with Yellow (Improvisation) 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 Philadelphia Museum of Art.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 16×12 and 24×18 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 Little Painting with Yellow (Improvisation) painted, and in what medium?

Little Painting with Yellow (Improvisation) dates from 1914 and was made in oil on canvas; the original measures 78.7 × 100.3 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

Across a three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×18 is the size that reads as one statement piece; 16×12 suits a narrower wall or a pair. For Little Painting with Yellow (Improvisation) we'd choose 24×18. It is a landscape print, wider than it is tall, at the painting's own proportions.

About this design

Little Painting with Yellow (Improvisation) (Wassily Kandinsky) — Little Painting with Yellow (Improvisation) · Wassily Kandinsky · 1914. 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.

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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.

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