Etching with Five Diagonals (Radierung mit fünf Diagonalen)

Etching with Five Diagonals (Radierung mit fünf Diagonalen) is a crucial abstract print created by Vasily Kandinsky in 1922. Executed using the drypoint technique, this specific work demonstrates the artist's commitment to geometry and linear abstraction immediately following his influential return to Germany to teach at the Bauhaus.

The composition is rigorously structural, characterized by a complex network of lines and implied planes. Kandinsky uses the medium of drypoint to great effect; the fine, raised burr of the method creates velvety, dark lines that articulate sharp spatial relationships. As suggested by the title, five dominant diagonal lines slice through the frame, intersecting with smaller arcs, acute angles, and floating geometric elements. Unlike his earlier, more expressive and color-driven work, this piece emphasizes pure structure and the theoretical organization of space, reflecting the formalistic principles prevalent at the Bauhaus in the early 1920s.

Created in 1922, this graphic piece documents a major turning point in Kandinsky’s artistic methodology, moving him firmly toward what he termed "cold romanticism"—a systematic approach to spiritual expression through measurable form. Although Russian in origin, the classification of the print within the French cultural sphere reflects the profound influence of Parisian publishing houses and exhibition circuits on the distribution and critical reception of his abstract prints across Europe during this period.

This highly significant work establishes Kandinsky as a master of graphic arts and represents a foundational exploration of geometric abstraction in the post-war era. Etching with Five Diagonals (Radierung mit fünf Diagonalen) is recognized globally as a key object in the modernist canon and is currently held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.