Christie’s has announced the first work for its Fall sales in New York.

“Study For Improvisation 8,” a vibrant work on cardboard and canvas from the pioneering abstract artist’s “Improvisations” series, is being sold by the Volkart Foundation, a charitable trust founded by 160-year-old Swiss commodities trading firm Volkart Brothers.

“Kandinsky’s ‘Improvisation’ series is at the nexus of some of the most compelling innovations of the avant-garde era,” said Brooke Lampley, head of Impressionist and modern art Christie’s, which estimates it will sell for $20 million to $30 million.

A sale in that range could set a record for the artist, whose previous high was $20.9 million for his 1914 piece “Fugue.” Set in 1990, that price is a notably longstanding mark given soaring prices in the art market since that time. […]

Studies from the “Improvisation” series, most of which grace museum collections, have been auctioned from private collections only twice in recent years. Christie’s sold one during the shaky November 2008 season—mere weeks after the crisis took hold—for $16.9 million. The price was the second-highest for a Kandinsky at auction.

Record Auction Price Up to $30m Eyed for Kandinsky (Reuters/Crain’s New York)