Born Moscow, Russia 1866. One of the first artists to establish the principles of abstraction, he went on to become connected with a number of avant-garde groups including Der Blaue Reiter. His earliest entirely abstract works are thought to have been produced around 1910. ‘Farbstudie Quadrate…’ is a fine example of the experiments he made with colour at that time. Kandinsky was the most important figure in non-representational abstraction and ‘Multicoloured Circle’ shows his exploitation of pigment as a material without need to refer to natural appearances or narrative. A master of composition, Kandinsky did not regard abstraction as chance or improvisation. He taught at the influential Bauhaus school in Germany, where he worked with Klee from 1921, and when the school was closed by the Nazis he moved to Paris, where he lived until his death. Died Neuilly-sur-Seine, France 1944.