Riding Path (Reiterweg) (plate, folio 24) from Klänge (Sounds)

Riding Path (Reiterweg) (plate, folio 24) from Klänge (Sounds) by Vasily Kandinsky is a fundamental woodcut print created during the pivotal year of 1913. This graphic work is one of fifty-six woodcuts that formed Kandinsky’s landmark illustrated book, Klänge, published in Munich just before the outbreak of World War I. This project was central to the artist's aesthetic philosophy, exploring the synesthetic relationship between visual abstraction and musical or sonic composition.

The woodcut medium was ideally suited for Kandinsky’s rapid development toward pure non-objective abstraction. The technique’s inherent constraints encouraged simplification and bold, often jagged, black lines, emphasizing formal elements over representational detail. Kandinsky utilized stark contrasts and geometric simplification, demonstrating his departure from the figurative and his embrace of the expressive potential of shape and color (though only line is evident in the black and white prints).

Although Kandinsky was the driving force behind the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter, the expansive nature and international circulation of his publishing projects often crossed cultural boundaries, resulting in this specific illustrated book being classified within the context of French culture. The publication in 1913 positioned the work at the zenith of European modernism, reflecting the radical experiments occurring simultaneously across Paris, Munich, and Berlin.

As a key component of the overall Klänge experience, this specific print demonstrates the artist’s ambition to synthesize media and disseminate his abstract theories far beyond the traditional canvas. The inclusion of these graphic works within a mass-produced illustrated book format made abstract ideas available to a broader audience, paving the way for future developments in printmaking and modern art education. This significant example of early twentieth-century graphic arts is maintained in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), where the institution houses an extensive collection of Kandinsky’s prints and rare illustrated books.