Railroad at Murnau by Wassily Kandinsky

Railroad at Murnau is one of a number of artworks completed by Kandinsky within this part of the Bavarian landscape. The artwork is dated at 1909 and came alongside a number of similar pieces in the following years.

The composition features a train appearing from the shadows, hurtling across the canvas to our left. The brushstrokes are loose and expressive, creating an impression of the original image, rather than worrying about a realistic depiction. Either side of the tracks are varying tones of green and brown which capture the flat landscape through which the train travels at great speed. In the far distance we can spot several buildings at the top of the hill, perhaps representing the edge of a small village. There is also a bright blue sky above, with white fluffy clouds floating past in a truly relaxing setting. All of his paintings around this time was positive in tone and content, suggesting a happy personal life at the time which was influencing his working style.

Kandinsky was an artist who took on several different genres within his career, going through different phases as his style developed over time. He sought to turn his back on traditional art, but was not sure how to go about this and so tried experimenting with different ideas for the majority of his career. What he left behind was an exciting oeuvre that is worth investigating more deeply than many tend to do, as otherwise you may only come across the more famous paintings of all that he achieved. His reputation continues to remain strong, more than a century after this particular work was completed.

You will find this painting within the collection of the The Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany. They have a good number of related artworks that they collectively refer to as their Blue Rider selection, and here you will find notable pieces from the likes of Paul Klee, August Macke, Alexej von Jawlensky, Robert Delaunay and Franz Marc. Gabriele Münter is known to have donated most of these items herself, very generously and it provides today one of the finest selections of art from this group anywhere in the world. Incidentally, you will also find many more Kandinsky paintings within their collection as well, most of which are from the same period as Railroad at Murnau to time with the relationship between the artist and Münter.