This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Arts & Entertainment

Grosse Pointe's Wassily Kandinsky Tapestry

The Central Library is home to modern art, including a Wassily Kandinsky Aubusson tapestry.

The is as much a home to fine modern art as it is to books and periodicals.  Some of the artwork, however, is easily glossed over by patrons who might not know what they are looking at—or why it is there.

For instance, on the north wall of the main reading room of Central Library hangs an unassuming tapestry.  A little sun-faded, this tapestry has hung in the same place since the building was constructed in 1953. 

It is not hanging there by accident.  It was selected by the Library’s Bauhaus architect, Marcel Breuer, specifically to hang where it is now.  Breuer thought that the library “building would be a synthesis of architecture, furnishings, and fine art.” 

Find out what's happening in Grosse Pointewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The generous donation of W. Hawkins Ferry, the Wassily Kandinsky tapestry is roughly 6 feet by 8 ½ feet and was hand woven in Aubusson in Central France.  Entitled, “Sur Fon Noir” or “On a Black Background” This tapestry exhibits a work that has many elements of Kandinsky’s later works—a softer color palate set against black, large rectilinear fields, and a smaller portion devoted to zoomorphic creatures.  A bird appears to be perched at top.

According to Will Grohman, Wassily Kandinsky: Life and Work, in his later years, 1940-1944, “Kandinsky still pursues his explorations, but now they are more secure and more sensitive; in both, black is set against the most delicate greens, pinks, and light blues.”

Find out what's happening in Grosse Pointewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Grohman continues, “There are also more fan paintings and paintings divided into rectilinear fields, although the fields now vary in size and accents and are filled with zoomorphic creatures—exotic birds and fish.”

Grohman also suggests that “Kandinsky’s late works have points of resemblance to Mexican or Peruvian art but more often they evoke the art of the Altai region…the landscape forms of the silk weavers of Noin Ula are repeatedly echoed…” Don’t let the geography confuse you: the Altai region is in Russia, and Noin Ula is in Mongolia.

The Kandinsky Tapestry was last appraised by Ernest DuMouchelle at a value of $125,000 in 2002. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?