82.145 Untitled

1924

82.204 Two Riders in Front of Red (Zwei Reiter vor Rot)

1911

Woodcut, sheet: 9 1/2 x 12 1/2" (24.3 x 31.5 cm); composition: 5 7/8 x 7 7/8" (15 x 20 cm)

Signed, lr: Kandinsky; monogram in stone

Print from Ganymed-Mappe, Nr. 3, published by Juilius Meier-Gaefe, directed by Wilhelm Hausenstein, for Marées-Gesellschaft, Winter 1924; nr. 9 of set

Provenance: Sr. Graefe, Berlin

Color woodcut, 6 1/2 x 4 1/2" (10.5 x 15.7 cm)

Print from Klange, Piper-Verlang, Munich 1913

Provenance: Hauswedell Auction, Hamburg, May 1959

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82.145 Untitled

1924

Woodcut, sheet: 9 1/2 x 12 1/2" (24.3 x 31.5 cm); composition: 5 7/8 x 7 7/8" (15 x 20 cm)

Signed, lr: Kandinsky; monogram in stone

Print from Ganymed-Mappe, Nr. 3, published by Juilius Meier-Gaefe, directed by Wilhelm Hausenstein, for Marées-Gesellschaft, Winter 1924; nr. 9 of set

Provenance: Sr. Graefe, Berlin

Two Riders in Front of Red (Zwei Reiter vor Rot)  1911

In 1913, Piper-Verlag published Kandinsky’s poems with accompanying woodcuts entitled Klange- that is, “tones.”  The concept of Klange was central to Kandinsky’s belief in the expressive abstract correspondence between musical tones and visual images- a concept that he voiced most eloquently in his book On Spiritual in Art.  In the publication Klange, Kandinsky actually used his own poems along with woodcuts to express his ideas, rather than relaying solely on visual images as he had already done in his 1903 Gedichte ohne Worte (Poems without Words).

As Kandinsky himself explained in the prospectus for Klange, some of the woodcuts date from as early as 1907- reason for the fact that several examples in the set, including this work, recall earlier stylistic predilections.  Of interest is his thematic use of riders- a favored image since his earliest paintings, and an inspiration for the naming of the Blaue Reiter (the Blue Rider).  It is clear that Kandinsky’s attitude about the impact of woodcuts was similar to other Expressionists, for he too focused on the emotional impact of color rather than on the precise delineation of form or the perfect register of color fields within the graphic outlines.  As Roethel points out, Kandinsky made a number of separate prints of the woodcuts included in Klange that were larger and did not include the violet color along the fore-edge of the page.  This print appears to be one of these separate prints, not taken from a bound copy of the book.

Untitled  1924

Kandinsky’s most favored abstract forms are readily apparent here: the jagged black line, the dots, and the asymmetrical shapes- all meant to convey, in a hieroglyphic sense, particular emotional states.  That Kandinsky would participate in the production of such a print portfolio at this date is indication of the prestige associated with such sets of collector’s print –portfolios.