Poland says Kandinsky art sold in Germany comes from theft

Kandinsky, who lived from 1866-1944, was a Russian painter who is credited with being among the pioneers of abstract art. From 1896-1914 he lived and studied in Munich.

WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s culture authorities said Thursday a picture by Wassily Kandinsky that was auctioned in Germany for almost $404,000 belongs to Poland, where it was stolen in 1984.

The authorities are threatening legal steps.

Kandinsky’s 1928 watercolor “Untitled” was sold Thursday at the Grisebach auctioneers in

Berlin. The price tag includes the auction fee.

Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, as well as the Embassy in Berlin, say they had notified the auction house that the artwork was stolen from an exhibition at the National Museum in Warsaw. They says that had protested putting it up for the auction.

“The German auction house has acted like a receiver of stolen goods,” Poland’s culture minister, Piotr Glinski, said on Twitter.

The abstract composition on cardboard bears the Polish museum’s stamp on the reverse. The online auction catalogue says that it was Kandinsky’s birthday present to Otto Ralfs, and was in Braunschweig until around 1940. It was at the National Museum from around 1965-1983, according to the catalogue, and then was at a private art collection in the U.S. In 1988 it was acquired by a private person from Galerie Thomas in Munich.

Kandinsky, who lived from 1866-1944, was a Russian painter who is credited with being among the pioneers of abstract art. From 1896-1914 he lived and studied in Munich.

Poland is also actively seeking artwork that was looted by the Nazi German troops when they occupied Poland during World War II.