Painted during a transformative moment in Kandinsky’s career, Murnau mit Kirche II (1910) encapsulates the very beginnings of the revolutionary abstract language that would underpin the rest of Kandinsky’s career – and set the next generation of artists on a new path. In the near-square format favored by avant-garde contemporaries from Monet to Klimt, the work has a rich palette of contrasting hues and a remarkable history.

Shortly after it was painted, the work was acquired by Johanna Margarete Stern (née Lippmann, 1874-1944) and Siegbert Samuel Stern (1864-1935). The Sterns were at the heart of the famously glittering cultural life of 1920s Berlin and together they built an impressive art collection consisting of well over 100 paintings and drawings, the scope of which reflected their multifaceted tastes and interests.

Everything changed, however, following the rise to power of the Nazis. The restitution of Kandinsky’s masterpiece to the heirs of Johanna Margarete and Siegbert Stern has reconnected the painting with its history. It was identified just under ten years ago on the walls of the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, where it had been hanging since 1951.

Early works by Kandinsky rarely come to the market, and this work is one of the last of the Murnau period and in this scale remaining in private hands. Murnau mit Kirche II is one of the most important works by the artist ever to appear at auction. This masterpiece will be one of the top highlights of the Modern and Contemporary Evening Auction to be held in London on the 1st of March.

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