The Hunt (Ochota) from Verses Without Words (Stichi bez slov) by Vasily Kandinsky is a crucial early print dating from 1903. This specific woodcut is one component of a seminal portfolio that marked Kandinsky's significant engagement with graphic arts techniques during the early phase of his career. The complete work, Verses Without Words, comprises twelve major woodcuts, along with a dedicated woodcut title page, a woodcut table of contents, a supplementary woodcut, and a woodcut colophon, highlighting the artist’s meticulous commitment to the limited edition livre d'artiste format.
Produced in 1903, this work reflects Kandinsky's assimilation of graphic arts trends popular in central Europe and France at the turn of the century. Although Kandinsky was Russian, the portfolio’s stylistic characteristics align closely with the Symbolist and Art Nouveau movements prevalent within contemporary French visual culture. This work predates the artist’s subsequent radical shift toward non-objective abstraction, and is characterized by highly linear compositions and the stark black-and-white contrast inherent to the woodcut medium. Kandinsky’s deliberate use of simplified, expressive lines in this print anticipates the raw energy he would later channel into his pioneering abstract expressionism.
The subject, The Hunt (Ochota), uses the intense graphic capacity of the medium to depict a dynamic scene, emphasizing motion and narrative tension common in graphic works of the early 1900s. Kandinsky intentionally utilized the flat, stylized forms of the woodcut to move away from conventional academic representation, experimenting instead with compressed space and decorative qualities. This suite of twelve prints is essential for understanding the formal foundations of Kandinsky’s revolutionary artistic development. This specific impression is preserved in the renowned collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), safeguarding a vital example of early 20th-century printmaking. Historical prints created around 1903, like this one, often serve as crucial reference points for the evolution of modern art.
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