Spectators (Zriteli) from Verses Without Words (Stichi bez slov)

Spectators (Zriteli) from Verses Without Words (Stichi bez slov) by Vasily Kandinsky is a crucial early graphic work dating to 1903, marking a significant point in the artist’s transition toward modern abstraction. This piece is executed as a woodcut, forming one of twelve central plates within the comprehensive portfolio Verses Without Words. The portfolio, which also included a woodcut title page, a table of contents, a supplementary image, and a colophon, demonstrates the early commitment of Kandinsky to integrating text and image through innovative printing techniques.

Created in 1903, the work reflects the transitional period when Kandinsky was actively engaged with the major artistic movements of Central and Western Europe, particularly those emanating from the French and German centers of graphic art. Although the artist’s mature style would involve total abstraction, the woodcut employs a simplified realism rooted in Symbolism and the decorative aesthetics of Jugendstil.

The technique of the woodcut naturally lends itself to dramatic simplification, emphasizing stark, linear contrasts and flattened planes. Kandinsky masterfully utilizes this graphic medium to depict a gathering of observers, where the forms are heavily contoured but possess an expressive, almost theatrical quality. The emphasis is less on descriptive detail and more on the emotional weight conveyed through composition and form.

This early foray into prints proves invaluable for understanding the formal and conceptual concerns that would define Kandinsky’s revolutionary career. The ability of the artist to manipulate the constraints of the woodcut medium foreshadows the boldness he would later bring to color and shape. This important piece resides in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.