Moscow has seen the opening of the Kandinsky art competition this week – the second in its history. The winner of the event, named after one of the foremost creators of abstract art, will receive no less than 40,000 euros.

The award ceremony will take place in December, the month of Vasily Kandinsky birthday. It is precluded by the exhibition that has opened in the Central House of Artists in Moscow on Thursday and will continue through to November 20.

After an intense selection process of 337 submitted pieces by Russian modern artists, the display will show the top 60 works. 

According to one of the organizers, Shalva Breus, the event is aimed at showing the public “the fingerprint of Russia’s modern art”, uncovering new names and trends.

“We want more artists to have an opportunity to show their work and for the Moscow public to see them,” he said in his interview to the RIA Novosti news agency.

A jury, made up of big names from both the Russian and European art scene, will chose winners in three categories: Project of the Year will net 40,000 euros; Best Young Artist will receive a work trip; and the winner of the Media Project will receive 10,000 euros.

The prize fund of the Kandinsky competition is comparable to the Turner prize in London, and the Marcel Duchamp prize in Paris, making the award itself the biggest in Russia.

The organizer of the event, cultural foundation “ArtKhronika”, has co-operated with Deutsche Bank, which could be seen as symbolic in light of the fact that Vasily Kandinsky spent more than 18 years of his life in Germany.

There he set up a group, called “The Blue Rider” (Der Blaue Reiter) with Franz Marc, Paul Klee and other artists who have since become iconic. The group distanced themselves from academia, searching for new art forms.

Along with Piet Mondrian, Vasily Kandinsky became the pioneer of abstractionism, which was an influential art trend of the 20th century.

His book titled “Concerning the spiritual in art”, the main message of which is that artist should paint spiritual rather than material, has become a Bible for his followers and an explanation to the quality of abstract art, which he himself compared to music.

Considered to be one of the most expensive Russian masters, whose work set a record of $20 million at auction, Kandinsky is now the prize for a nominee who might just beat his record one day.