Wassily Kandinsky – Moscow I

Moscow I is a painting by Wassily Kandinsky from 1916: an almost square canvas on which the city whirls around a white building at the centre – churches with onion domes, tall houses with rows of windows, a rainbow, flocks of birds and rays breaking through the clouds. The original is held by the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow under the title Moscow. Red Square. We make it as a hand-painted reproduction in oil on canvas, in eight sizes or to your measurements, and before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval.

Moscow I – Wassily Kandinsky

What is on the canvas?

Across the upper part of the canvas a rainbow in blue, red and yellow spans in an arc, with flocks of black birds flying above it. At the upper left hangs a dark, greenish black cloud, from which pale rays fan out towards the left edge. The centre is taken by a white, tilted building with a small church on top, and below it glows a large yellow and white halo, like a sun. On the left rises a tall white house with rows of windows, beside it a red house with many windows. From below a column of red and white dots climbs at a slant, next to a dark blue column carrying a lattice of black lines. At the left and right edges stand churches with golden onion domes. The lower part is filled by a dark blue mass dotted with white, and at the lower right by a dark hill with a red rim and a yellow crescent moon. The colours are laid on in short, dense strokes, so that hardly a single plane is calm.

How is the painting built?

As a whirl around the centre. The buildings do not stand parallel but lean towards the white building in the middle, as if seen from several sides at once. The rainbow at the top closes the scene like a dome, the dark masses below carry it. The museum notes that the energy with which the painting is built gives a sense of movement, of constantly shifting viewpoints, of the ringing, hum and roar of the modern city, where churches stand beside the multi-storey tenement houses of the early twentieth century. It is not a fully abstract painting: houses, domes, birds and the rainbow can be recognised, but they are put together as no eye sees them at once.

What did Kandinsky want to paint?

The museum draws on his letters. In July 1914, before the First World War forced him to return from Germany to Russia, he wrote that he needed to spend some months in Moscow, which he called the soil from which he drew his strength. After 1915, an unusually hard year for him, he regained his inner balance, the museum writes, and from the round windows of his sixth-floor studio there was a view over Moscow and the Kremlin. He wanted to paint a great landscape of Moscow: to take parts from everywhere, weak and strong, and mix them, since the world too is made of different elements, and the whole was to sound like an orchestra. In the evening, in the museum’s account, he went to the Kremlin to see the churches from the angle he needed, and then, back at Zubovskaya, worked on a sketch.

When was it painted, and where is it now?

In 1916. The Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow holds it under the title Moscow. Red Square and inventory number Ж-1271; the collector G. D. Costakis gave it to the gallery in 1977. According to the museum’s record it is oil on canvas and measures 51.5 x 49.5 cm, height first. The record is on the Tretyakov Gallery page.

Why does this painting matter?

Because it gathers a whole city on one canvas. The museum lists what comes together in it: recognisable architectural monuments and tall houses with many windows growing like mushrooms, coloured smoke from factory chimneys, sun rays breaking through the clouds, a rainbow and flocks of birds over the city; it is this interweaving, in the museum’s view, that creates the effect of an orchestra in Kandinsky’s painting. The same gallery also holds Composition VII; we paint it as Composition VII.

How is our hand-painted version made?

The painter works from a high-resolution reference and builds the painting up in layers, with brush and oil colours. With this subject the density of the strokes decides everything: every dome, window and bird has to stay distinct, and the colours must keep their glow even in the dark passages. An oil painting reproduction keeps its colour for many years, because oil does not fade the way the colour of a print does. The first photograph on this page does not show this painting: it is a room visualisation with another Kandinsky, Composition VI, in a gold frame above a blue sofa. The second photograph shows our copy of Moscow I, painted by hand, in a wide silver frame, its corners protected with film, standing on the ground in front of a door. Because every hand-painted copy is made on its own, no two are alike in every detail; what they share is the subject, the proportions and the colours.

Which size for which wall?

The original measures 49.5 x 51.5 cm; our 50 x 52 cm is 5 mm wider and 5 mm higher. Every size from 60 x 60 cm upwards is larger than the original. As a painting for the living room it works best at 90 x 90 or 110 x 110 cm, where the small domes and windows stay legible from a few metres away. The 40 x 40 and 50 x 52 cm sizes suit a desk or a hallway, 60 x 60 and 70 x 70 cm a bedroom, and 80 x 80 cm a smaller wall. The largest size, 150 x 150 cm, is meant for open spaces.

Custom sizes, stretcher and frame

If none of the eight sizes fits your wall, we paint the work to your measurements; that is our painting made to measure, and we tell you how the composition adapts to the new proportion. Every canvas is stretched on a wooden stretcher. A frame is optional and not included in the base price.

Delivery and guarantee

Every canvas here is painted only after it is ordered, in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size. We send it protected, insured and tracked, across the EU without customs. If something is wrong on arrival, write to us and we will put it right. All of Kandinsky’s works here are gathered in our Wassily Kandinsky gallery, and the painter is introduced in our article about Wassily Kandinsky. Related works we paint include The Blue Mountain, Impression III (Concert) and Composition VI.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the original?

In the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, inventory number Ж-1271, under the title Moscow. Red Square. G. D. Costakis gave it to the gallery in 1977.

How large is the original?

It measures 49.5 x 51.5 cm, so it is slightly taller than it is wide. We give the width first; the museum gives the height first, as 51.5 x 49.5 cm. Our 50 x 52 cm is 5 mm wider and 5 mm higher.

When was it painted?

In 1916, at the time when, according to the museum’s record, Kandinsky was living in Moscow and had a studio overlooking the city.

What is shown in the painting?

Moscow put together from many parts: churches with onion domes, tall houses with windows, a white building at the centre, a rainbow, birds, the sun and its rays, all drawn into one whirl.

Is this a print?

No. This is a canvas painting: it is painted by hand in oil, and the brushstrokes are visible in raking light and can be felt.

Which size should I choose?

For a living room 90 x 90 and 110 x 110 cm work best, for a desk or a hallway 40 x 40 or 50 x 52 cm. Before deciding, tape paper of that size to the wall for a day.

Can I have a size that is not on the list?

Yes. We also paint sizes that are not on the list, in the proportion your wall needs, and tell you how the composition will fall.

How is it delivered?

Insured and tracked, across the EU without customs. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished Kandinsky reproduction for approval.

Why does the painting have two titles?

We sell it as Moscow I, while the Tretyakov Gallery lists it as Moscow. Red Square. It is the same painting; we also checked that by comparing the museum’s image with our reference.

Is the original for sale, and what is it worth?

It is not for sale, so it has no market price. It belongs to a public museum collection and stays there; what we offer is a copy painted by hand, not the original, and we never confuse the two.

Does it make a good gift?

It does, especially for someone who likes cities, Moscow or strong colour. If you are unsure about the subject or the size there is a gift voucher, and the decision stays with them.

• Subject: Moscow in a whirl: a white building at the centre, domed churches, tall houses, a rainbow, birds and rays
• Original: Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, inv. Ж-1271, 1916, 49.5 x 51.5 cm, gift of G. D. Costakis 1977
• Our version: hand-painted oil on canvas, eight sizes from 40 x 40 to 150 x 150 cm, on a wooden stretcher, framed on request
• Worth knowing: according to the museum, Kandinsky wanted the painting put together so that it would sound like an orchestra