Great Resurrection (Grosse Auferstehung) (proof) for Klänge (Sounds)

Great Resurrection (Grosse Auferstehung) (proof) for Klänge (Sounds) by Vasily Kandinsky is a pivotal woodcut created in 1911. This striking print was conceived as an early version for Kandinsky’s famous publication of experimental poetry and prose, Klänge (Sounds), which was subsequently published in Munich in 1912. The creation of this graphical work occurs during the crucial period when Kandinsky definitively transitioned toward non-objective art, moving away from representational forms to explore abstraction as a spiritual necessity.

The classification of the piece as a woodcut emphasizes the artist’s commitment to the expressive power and dramatic visual simplicity inherent in the print medium. Kandinsky utilizes the stark, powerful contrast of black and white, characteristic of the woodcut technique, to render dynamic and fragmented forms. These bold, angular lines vividly convey the apocalyptic and spiritually charged subject matter suggested by the title, reflecting the intense upheaval the artist perceived in early twentieth-century culture. The intensity of the work mirrors the aims of the period’s German Expressionism, but filtered through Kandinsky’s unique theoretical framework concerning line and color.

Although Kandinsky was Russian, the development of this specific print and the accompanying poems occurred while the artist was deeply engaged with the burgeoning modernist circles centered in Munich and Paris, connecting him directly to the broad French avant-garde cultural shift of the time. The woodcut exemplifies Kandinsky’s theory of "inner necessity," where the form must correspond to an essential spiritual truth. As a proof for the seminal Klänge, the work documents the vital relationship between Kandinsky’s visual and literary output. This important print is held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), where it is recognized as a key example of the artist’s early abstract prints and a foundational document in the history of abstraction (1911).