Hill, Tree, Clouds and Figure (Hügel, Baum, Wolken und Figur) (tailpiece, folio 43) from Klänge (Sounds)

Hill, Tree, Clouds and Figure (Hügel, Baum, Wolken und Figur) (tailpiece, folio 43) from Klänge (Sounds) is a significant woodcut created by Vasily Kandinsky in 1913. This work is one of fifty-six woodcuts featured in the seminal illustrated book Klänge (Sounds), a pivotal project in the artist's development toward complete abstraction. As a "tailpiece" on folio 43, the print often serves as a visual coda to the accompanying poetic texts, establishing a powerful dialogue between visual and auditory experience.

The medium of the woodcut lends itself perfectly to Kandinsky’s early abstract expressionism. The technique, characterized by severe contrasts, uses the inherent limitations of relief printing to create a powerful graphic impact. The stark black-and-white palette emphasizes dynamic, jagged lines and simplified forms, capturing the elemental qualities suggested by the title’s components: hill, tree, clouds, and figure. While the subject matter is still somewhat representational, Kandinsky dramatically distorts the recognizable elements, pushing the image toward the pure, spiritual geometry and color he would soon embrace fully. This raw, direct graphic quality was essential to the visual revolution taking place across avant-garde prints during this era, reflecting the revolutionary aesthetic shifts occurring in European art during 1913.

Klänge represented a fusion of Symbolist poetry and radical graphic design, demonstrating Kandinsky's commitment to the Gesamtkunstwerk or total work of art. Although Kandinsky was Russian and primarily active within the German Expressionist milieu, the cultural classification associated with the distribution and context of this influential illustrated book often places it within the broader French context of early modernism. The artist’s work fundamentally changed how prints and illustrated books were conceived in the early twentieth century. This specific impression of Hill, Tree, Clouds and Figure (Hügel, Baum, Wolken und Figur) is classified as an Illustrated Book and is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, ensuring its legacy as a foundational example of abstraction.