Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons)

Wassily Kandinsky

1913 · Oil on canvas · The Art Institute of Chicago

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

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Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons)

Improvisation 19

Improvisation Gorge

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 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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Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

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About this work

Artist: Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944)
Year: 1913
Medium: Oil on canvas
Original size: 111 × 111.3 cm
Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago
Movement: Abstract art

A square canvas is filled with loose patches of blue, red, yellow, green and pink, over which run curving lines and the outlines of buildings, some tilting as if they were toppling; at lower right two small black cannons fire toward the centre. Kandinsky painted it in Munich in 1913. When the Chicago lawyer and collector Arthur Jerome Eddy asked about the guns, Kandinsky replied that their presence could probably be explained by the constant talk of war that year, while insisting he had not set out to paint a war picture. The work is a clear case of how, in his Improvisations, recognisable motifs surface and dissolve inside abstract colour. Eddy, one of the first American collectors of Kandinsky, owned it by 1920, and his widow and son gave it to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1931.

This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.

Where it works

Loose blue, red and yellow patches with toppling towers and two tiny cannons, for a study, home office or living room at 24×36 in black. A white or pale grey wall; it pairs with Improvisation Gorge.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Exhibition poster of a Abstract art painting
Era: 20th century (1913)
Orientation: Portrait
Palette: cream & beige
Mood: classic
Rooms: living room, study or library, home office, dining room, dorm room
Good gift for: housewarming, art lovers

Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. 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. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.

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

Details & materials

• Exhibition poster — original, drawn in-house • 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 exhibition-poster edition sets the complete image above typography designed in-house.

Is Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons) 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 The Art Institute of Chicago.

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 Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons) painted, and in what medium?

Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons) dates from 1913 and was made in oil on canvas; the original measures 111 × 111.3 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 Improvisation No. 30 (Cannons) we'd choose 24×36.

About this design

A museum-exhibition poster of Wassily Kandinsky's Improvisation No. 30 — a burst of colour and line in which two small cannons fire in the lower right corner — shown whole and uncropped beneath gallery typography. Kandinsky: Colour and Abstraction, styled as a blockbuster exhibition print. A gallery-style exhibition poster: a celebrated public-domain artwork shown whole and uncropped beneath original exhibition typography set in-house — 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 Exhibition Posters 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.

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