Kandinsky Painting Guaranteed at Christie's New York Sale
Christie's will sell a 1922-23 painting by Wassily Kandinsky at its New York auction on November 17, and the house says the work is guaranteed to sell for a record-setting price. ARTnews reported the plan on October 22, 2026.
The painting is called Betonte Ecken, which translates as "Accentuated Corners." Kandinsky, the Russian-born painter, made it in Weimar, Germany, while he was teaching at the Bauhaus, the German school of art and design.
Christie's, the London-founded auction house, has set an estimate of US$60 million to US$80 million. An estimate is the auction house's expected sale range. The final figure depends on the bidding on the day.
The guarantee is the bigger story. Christie's told ARTnews that the work is guaranteed to sell at a record-setting level. A guarantee means the auction house commits to a minimum amount for the seller, whatever happens in the room. Kandinsky's current auction record is US$44.8 million, set in 2023 for Murnau mit Kirche II at Sotheby's in London, according to ARTnews.
The painting's provenance, the documented chain of its owners, runs through one of the best-known museums in New York. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum acquired it from Hilla Rebay, an adviser to the museum's founder, and kept it until 1964. That year the museum sold it at Sotheby's London to New York art dealer Stephen Hahn.
Hahn later sold it to Boston collectors Sandra and David Bakalar. The Bakalars consigned the work to Sotheby's in New York in 1986, meaning they handed it over to be sold at auction. The current seller, who has not been named, acquired it at that same Sotheby's New York sale in 1986.
Christie's has been busy in London this month. Artsy reported on October 14 that a Kandinsky selling for US$41.7 million led the house's October London auctions. Those two evening sales reached a sell-through rate of 91%, meaning 91% of the lots offered found buyers.
The New York sale is scheduled for November 17. Until then, the price on the catalogue is an estimate, and the guarantee is the auction house's promise, not a sale result.
