Kandinsky at the Pompidou Centre

The retrospective exhibit by Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, which remained open from April 8 to August 10, became the third most popular exhibit - with 702,905 visitors, averaging 569 persons per day - after the 1979 Dalí exhibit and the 1993 Matisse exhibit. Because of the large attendance, the centre had to increase the hours it was open to the public. Visitors were met by large-format abstract works created between 1907 and 1942. The exhibit reflected all the important periods of Kandinsky and included works previously shown at the Pompidou Centre in 1984 during the first retrospective of this Moscow-born artist, who died in the north of Paris in 1944. The exhibit was made possible by the joint efforts of the three participating museums. The Stätdtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus of Munich, Germany, presented the exhibit this past fall with the same success it had at the Pompidou Centre. From September 18 to January 13, 2010, the exhibit will be at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The majority of the works come from these three public institutions, which own most of the works by the Russian artist.