The Baptized (Täuflinge) (plate, folio 47) from Klänge (Sounds)

The Baptized (Täuflinge) (plate, folio 47) from Klänge (Sounds) is a significant woodcut created by Vasily Kandinsky in 1913. This specific plate is drawn from Kandinsky's seminal illustrated book, Klänge (Sounds), which featured fifty-six individual woodcuts. Published just before the outbreak of World War I, this work marks a critical moment in the development of abstract art and the artist’s theoretical explorations of color and form as equivalents to music. The choice of the woodcut medium allowed Kandinsky to produce stark, expressive contrasts, emphasizing line and mass over traditional descriptive detail.

The year (1913) represents the zenith of Kandinsky’s move toward non-objective representation. He believed that sound and sight were intrinsically linked, a concept he explored using bold, often jagged forms that suggest spiritual or emotional states rather than recognizable objects. This particular piece, depicting a group possibly undergoing a religious rite or baptismal experience, transforms the subject matter through intense simplification, characteristic of the era's move away from literal representation. Although the artist was centrally involved with German Expressionism, the influence of the publication spread rapidly into French culture and the Parisian avant-garde, helping to solidify the international language of abstraction.

Classified formally as an Illustrated Book, the power of this woodcut derives from its ability to convey complex themes through minimal means. Kandinsky produced these images as prints intended for wider distribution, emphasizing the democratization of art inherent in the illustrated book format. The entire volume served as a visual and poetic manifesto, challenging traditional narrative structure through symbolic and non-objective representations. Today, this essential example of early modernism resides in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, where scholars continue to study its role in the foundation of abstract art. The historical importance of these original prints ensures their continued study, and high-quality reproductions of related works are frequently found in the public domain, allowing global access to this foundational achievement.