Pietra Dura reinterpretation after Kandinsky (1906) 70 x 74 in (177.8 × 188.0 cm) This mosaic reinterpretation of Wassily Kandinsky’s Couple Riding (1906) translates the expressive vibrancy of the original oil painting into stone, capturing the emotional stillness and movement embedded within the scene. The composition depicts a man and woman on horseback riding through a birch-lined forest at dusk, with the golden-lit skyline of a distant Russian town glowing across the river. Rendered in stone, the effect becomes both painterly and sculptural, uniting color and mineral texture in a seamless visual rhythm.
The trees are formed from alternating veins of white dolomite, black jade, and pink rhodonite, suggesting the flickering of autumn leaves and fading light. The river is composed of lapis lazuli, Afghanite, and labradorite, layered in shards to capture the reflection and energy of brushwork in a mosaic idiom. The domes and rooftops of the city beyond are built from turquoise, sugilite, carnelian, and chrysoprase—each gem contributing chromatic vitality and architectural contour.
The horse is cut in soft-toned calcite and shadowed marble, while the figures themselves are defined through densely patterned cloaks of jasper, thulite, and serpentine. The male rider’s red cap and sleeve stand out in bold cuprite, creating a visual anchor in a sea of rhythmic color. Above, the evening sky dissolves into a canopy of lapis and pink opal, flecked with sunstone and pietersite, lending the scene its dreamlike shimmer. In stone, Kandinsky’s fleeting moment becomes lasting—a gesture of tenderness held in mineral form.