Stolen Kandinsky fetches £31.56 million
Das bunte Leben was the most expensive work of the evening auction at Christie’s in London.
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Wassily Kandinsky’s painting Das bunte Leben was sold in London on Wednesday for £31.56 million, including the buyer’s premium. The work was returned in 2023 to the heirs of a Jewish couple from Amsterdam after being identified as Nazi-looted art.
Christie’s reported after the auction that the painting fetched £31.56 million after almost six minutes of bidding. This made Das bunte Leben the evening’s most expensive lot and, according to the auction house, the most expensive work sold during London’s Frieze Week in the past five years.
The independent German news agency dpa reported a hammer price of £27 million. The higher amount of £31.56 million includes the premium paid by the buyer to the auction house. The precise proceeds converted into euros depend on the exchange rate used; a fixed amount of €32 million does not follow from the checked sources.
Kandinsky painted Das bunte Leben in 1907. From 1927, the work was part of the collection of Hedwig and Emanuel Albert Lewenstein, who lived in Amsterdam. According to the German Advisory Commission on Nazi-Looted Cultural Property, the painting was auctioned on 9 October 1940, several months after the German occupation of the Netherlands.
The circumstances surrounding that sale were part of a lengthy restitution dispute. In 2023, the German advisory commission recommended returning the painting to the heirs of Hedwig Lewenstein-Weyermann and Irma Lewenstein Klein. Christie’s describes the return as restitution to the family.
Before the restitution, the painting was on display for decades at the Lenbachhaus in Munich. It was held there on long-term loan from Bayerische Landesbank, which had acquired the work in 1972. After the return, the heirs could decide for themselves what would happen to it; they subsequently brought it onto the international art market.
The sale thus shows two sides of restitution. Returning a work restores an ownership relationship severed by persecution and war, but it can also mean that the work subsequently disappears from a public museum. In the case of Das bunte Leben, it has not been disclosed who the new buyer is or whether the painting will again be publicly displayed.
Christie’s calls the work an important painting from Kandinsky’s early development towards abstraction. This art-historical significance, the provenance history and the restitution together explain why the lot fetched far more than the previously stated estimate of £18 million to £25 million.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- The painting was returned to the heirs in 2023 and sold at auction in 2026.
- Before the restitution, the work was on long-term display in a public museum.
- The current buyer and future public accessibility are not known.
Left
Arguments The emphasis is on redressing injustice and on the responsibility of museums and governments to return looted art, even if this means that a publicly held work disappears.
Values Historical justice, equal treatment and recognition of persecution.
Consequences More restitutions may change collections, but they increase the trust of descendants and communities of origin.
Centre
Arguments Restitution should be carried out carefully on the basis of independent provenance research, while museums can work with heirs to explore loans or other forms of public access.
Values Legal certainty, transparency, cultural stewardship and practical feasibility.
Consequences A combination of transfer of ownership and long-term loans can make both redress and public visibility possible.
Right
Arguments Ownership should be established through evidence and an orderly procedure; a high market price should not automatically be seen as proof of guilt or as a reason to restrict private ownership.
Values Ownership, legal certainty, individual responsibility and restrained government intervention.
Consequences A predictable restitution framework can limit conflicts, but critics say a strictly legal approach may fail to give sufficient weight to historical power imbalances.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The core facts about the auction were confirmed by Christie’s and independently reported by dpa. The historical provenance and restitution were documented by the German advisory commission; unknown information was identified as uncertain.
- confirmed Das bunte Leben was sold in London on 14 October 2026 for £31.56 million, including the buyer’s premium. — Christie’s gives the date, location and sale price. source
- confirmed The hammer price was £27 million. — Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported this via NAMPA. source
- confirmed The painting was made in 1907. — Christie’s names the work as Das bunte Leben (1907). source
- confirmed From 1927, the work belonged to the collection of Hedwig and Emanuel Albert Lewenstein in Amsterdam. — The German advisory commission describes the collection and ownership history. source
- confirmed The painting was auctioned on 9 October 1940 after the German occupation of the Netherlands. — This is stated in the decision of the German advisory commission. source
- confirmed In 2023, the German advisory commission recommended restitution to the heirs. — The commission published a formal recommendation on this. source
- confirmed The painting was on display at the Lenbachhaus in Munich for decades. — Christie’s mentions the long-term loan to the museum. source
Editor's note
The sale, date, price and restitution were confirmed by Christie’s, and the hammer price was independently reported by dpa. The identity of the buyer and the work’s future public presentation are not known; the euro conversion depends on the exchange rate.Sources
- Christie’s London 20/21 Evening Sales total £219 million — Christie’s
- Nazi-looted Kandinsky sells for £27 million at London auction — NAMPA / dpa
- The Advisory Commission recommends restitution of Das bunte Leben — Beratende Kommission NS-Raubgut
More on this in Dutch media
- AD — „wassily kandinsky”
- de Volkskrant — „wassily kandinsky”
- RTL Nieuws — „wassily kandinsky”