"Untitled" [First Abstract Watercolor]
Wassily Kandinsky
1910

pencil, watercolor and ink on paper
19.5×25.5" (49.6×64.8m)
Paris, France: Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou

It was the hour when dusk draws in. I returned home with my painting box having finished a study, still dreamy and absorbed in the work I had completed, and suddenly saw an indescribably beautiful picture, pervaded by an inner glow. At first, I stopped short and then quickly approached this mysterious picture, on which I could discern only forms and colors and whose content was incomprehensible. At once, I discovered the key to the puzzle: it was a picture I had painted, standing on its side against a wall. The next day, I tried to re-create the impression of the picture from the previous evening by daylight. I only half succeeded, however; even on its side, I constantly recognized objects and the fine bloom of dusk was missing. Now I could see clearly that objects harmed my pictures.