Promenade (Sketch)

Promenade (Sketch), painted around 1904 and held in the Lenbachhaus collection, is the preparatory study for the finished Promenade (1904) at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag. The sketch documents Kandinsky's working process for this figure-in-landscape subject—his initial arrangement of the composition before refining it in the final version. Comparing the sketch and finished work reveals which compositional decisions he settled on early and which were adjusted through the painting process. The Lenbachhaus's collection of Kandinsky sketches and studies is essential for understanding his transition from observational figurative work toward symbolic and eventually abstract painting.

As a sketch, this work would show looser, more exploratory handling than the finished Promenade—broader brushwork, less resolved colour, and possibly variant figure placement or landscape framing. The sketch medium allowed Kandinsky to test compositional and chromatic ideas rapidly before committing to the more considered execution of the finished panel.