Kleine Welten XI (Small Worlds XI)

1922

Not on view

Kandinsky made the Small Worlds (Kleine Welten) portfolio while teaching at the Bauhaus, the influential German art school founded after World War I. For Kandinsky, abstraction was a spiritual language. In these poetic images, he creates a vibrant interplay of line and form, while capitalizing on the strengths of each printmaking method, in order to evoke different sensations or "worlds." He used three techniques—drypoint, woodcut, and lithography—each of which had distinct, and for Kandinsky, symbolic, properties. Drypoint, which he regarded as "aristocratic," creates sharp, precise lines, while woodcuts produce a richer texture and depth. Contrasting with these traditional techniques is lithography, which the artist viewed as modern and "democratic" because it offered a smooth surface, a rich vocabulary of colors and marks, and the opportunity to create a seemingly endless number of impressions.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Catalogue Raisonné

Title: Kleine Welten XI (Small Worlds XI)
Series/Portfolio: Kleine Welten
Artist: Vasily Kandinsky (French (born Russia), Moscow 1866–1944 Neuilly-sur-Seine)
Date: 1922
Medium: Drypoint
Dimensions: Plate: 9 5/16 × 7 7/8 in. (23.7 × 20 cm)
Sheet: 10 1/2 × 11 13/16 in. (26.7 × 30 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1931
Object Number: 31.10.10
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Vasily Kandinsky

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Kleine Welten I (Small Worlds I), Vasily Kandinsky French, born Russia, Lithograph printed in blue, red, yellow and black — Kleine Welten I (Small Worlds I)
Vasily Kandinsky
1922

Kleine Welten II (Small Worlds II), Vasily Kandinsky French, born Russia, Lithograph printed in black, red, blue, yellow — Kleine Welten II (Small Worlds II)
Vasily Kandinsky
1922

Kleine Welten VI (Small Worlds VI), Vasily Kandinsky French, born Russia, Woodcut — Kleine Welten VI (Small Worlds VI)
Vasily Kandinsky
1922

Kleine Welten VII (Small Worlds VII), Vasily Kandinsky French, born Russia, Woodcut — Kleine Welten VII (Small Worlds VII)
Vasily Kandinsky
1922

Kleine Welten III (Small Worlds III), Vasily Kandinsky French, born Russia, Lithograph in red, blue, yellow, and black — Kleine Welten III (Small Worlds III)
Vasily Kandinsky
1922

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