Small Worlds VI (Kleine Welten VI) from Small Worlds (Kleine Welten) is a seminal print created by Vasily Kandinsky in 1922. This specific image is one of the two woodcuts included in the famed Kleine Welten portfolio, which comprised twelve total prints utilizing a variety of intaglio and planographic techniques, including six lithographs and four drypoints. This approach showcases Kandinsky’s experimental mastery as he explored the possibilities of abstraction across different graphic media.
Executed during a crucial period of formal experimentation, the woodcut captures the geometric rigor Kandinsky began developing following his appointment at the Bauhaus school in Weimar. Although the artist was working in Germany at the time, the work’s classification within French culture reflects the international modernist movements flourishing in Paris during the 1920s and the crucial role French publishers and collectors played in the global dissemination of abstract art. Kandinsky employs the stark, high-contrast medium of the woodcut to emphasize dynamic angles and interlocking forms. Unlike his earlier, more fluid compositions, this print features precise, almost machine-like elements, including circles, rigid diagonals, and arcs that suggest organized movement and controlled cosmic energy.
The radicality of the Kleine Welten series cemented Kandinsky's status as a leader in non-objective art. This significant piece, dated 1922, demonstrates the refinement of his visual vocabulary, moving toward highly structured and emotionally resonant abstraction that would characterize his mid-career output. The physical work is currently held in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). As a landmark example of European modernism and printmaking from the 1920s, the conceptual ideas embedded in the woodcut continue to influence artists today, and like many historically significant prints, it often serves as source material for reproductions under public domain considerations worldwide.
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