Kandinsky masterpiece ‘Das bunte Leben’ to be auctioned in London

Christie’s will auction Wassily Kandinsky’s 1907 masterpiece, ‘Das bunte Leben’ (The Colorful Life), in London on October 14. The painting is expected to fetch more than $30 million.

The artwork was recently restituted to the heirs of the Lewenstein family, a Jewish collector family, after being classified as Nazi-looted art in 2023. The painting had been on long-term loan at the Lenbachhaus museum in Munich for over 50 years.

Originally acquired by Emanuel Albert Lewenstein and his wife Hedwig in 1927, the work was sold in October 1940 following the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. After decades of investigation, German authorities recommended its return to the Lewenstein descendants, noting that the original sale was likely involuntary due to Nazi persecution.