Stolen Art DealerA panoramic, brightly coloured landscape teeming with figures in vividly patterned clothing, painted in tempera and gouache in an acid palette.
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Catalogue No. 1651 · Christie's · London
Das bunte Leben (La vie mélangée)
About $41.8 million in today’s money: 480 years of the typical US household’s income. Source
- Artist
- Wassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866-1944)
- Title
- Das bunte Leben (La vie mélangée)
- Date
- 1907
- Medium
- Tempera and gouache on canvas
- Size
- 130.5 x 162.6 cm (51 3/8 x 64 1/8 in.)
Kandinsky painted Das bunte Leben (La vie mélangée) in 1907, in tempera and gouache on canvas, 130.5 by 162.6 centimetres. It is a panoramic, brightly coloured landscape filled with figures in vividly patterned clothing.
The provenance shows the work at Galerie Der Sturm in Berlin by October 1912. Paul Citroen acquired it about 1919, and Emanuel Albert Lewenstein of Amsterdam in 1927. It passed by descent to Hedwig Lewenstein-Weyermann in 1930 and was deposited at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, in 1933. In 1937 it passed by descent to Robert Gotschalk Lewenstein and Wilhelmine Helene Lewenstein, and it remained at the museum.
On 5 September 1940 the Stedelijk Museum consigned the painting to Abraham M. Querido Kunsthandel in Amsterdam. It was sold at Frederik Muller and Co. in Amsterdam on 8 and 9 October 1940, as lot 204, to Salomon Bernhard Slijper. In 1971 it passed by descent to Johanna Hamdorff Slijper, and the Bayerische Landesbank in Munich acquired it in 1972. In June 2023 the work was restituted to Hedwig Lewenstein-Weyermann's heirs.
Christie's sold it in London on 14 October 2026 as lot 115 for £31,560,000 with buyer's premium, against an estimate of £18 million to £25 million. Christie's converts that figure to $41.8 million.
The sale
- Auction house
- Christie's, London
- Date
- 14 October 2026
- Lot
- 115
- Estimate
- £18,000,000-25,000,000
- Sold for
- $41.8 million (including buyer’s premium) · £31,560,000
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Provenance
by October 1912
Galerie der Sturm, Berlin
circa 1919
Paul Citroen, Amsterdam & Wassenaar, by whom acquired from the above circa 1919
1927-11
Emanuel Albert Lewenstein, Amsterdam, by whom acquired from the above in November 1927
1930-06-10
Hedwig Lewenstein-Weyermann, Amsterdam, by descent from the above on 10 June 1930, and deposited for safekeeping at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, in 1933
1937-05-25
Robert Gotschalk Lewenstein & Wilhelmine Helene Lewenstein, Amsterdam, by descent from the above on 25 May 1937, and retained for safekeeping at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
1940-09-05
with Abraham M. Querido Kunsthandel, Amsterdam, on consignment from the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, on 5 September 1940
1940-10-08
Anonymous sale, Frederik Muller & Co, Amsterdam, 8-9 October 1940, lot 204. Salomon Bernhard Slijper, Blaricum, by whom acquired at the above sale via the intermediation of Carel van Pampus, Jr.
1971-08
Johanna Hamdorff Slijper, Blaricum, by descent from the above in August 1971
1972
Bayerische Landesbank, Munich, by whom acquired from the above via the intermediation of Carel van Pampus, Jr in 1972
2023-06
Restituted to the heirs of Hedwig Lewenstein-Weyermann in June 2023
Sources
- Christie's lot page: Das bunte Leben (La vie mélangée), Kandinsky
- Christie's lot page (christies.com.cn mirror): lot number, sale title
- Christie's press release: London 20/21 Evening Sales total £219 million (15 October 2026)
Prices include the buyer’s premium, in US dollars at the time of sale, unless marked as a hammer price.