Der Blaue Reiter

Der Blaue Reiter
Artist Wassily Kandinsky
Year 1903
Location Städtische Galerie in the Lenbachhaus in Munich
Dimensions 21.65 x 25.6 in
55 x 65 cm
Wassily Kandinsky Famous Paintings
Der Blaue Reiter, 1903
Composition IV, 1911
Composition VII, 1913
On White II, 1923
Composition VI, 1913
Composition VIII, 1923
Yellow-Red-Blue, 1925
Black and Violet, 1923
Composition X, 1939
Complete Works

Der Blaue Reiter, translated in English as The Blue Rider, is an oil painting by the Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky, that was completed in 1903. It is now part of a private collection in the Swiss city of Zurich. It is a small painting, measuring just 21.65 by 25.6 inches, that was done on cardboard.

Composition and Style

Der Blaue Reiter depicts a horseman dressed in blue, including a blue hat, riding across a hillside on a galloping white horse. There are rocks strewn along the hillside, which is crested by a line of trees. The painting is done in the Expressionist style.

The Name

Kandinsky, along with other Russian expatriate artists living in Germany and several German artists, was a founder of and contributor to an almanac called Der Blaue Reiter. There is evidence that Kandinsky altered the name of the painting, so it is not known if the almanac was named after the painting or vice versa.