Vignette next to "Colorful Field" (Vignette bei "Bunte Wiese") (headpiece, folio 56 verso) from Klänge (Sounds)

Vignette next to "Colorful Field" (Vignette bei "Bunte Wiese") (headpiece, folio 56 verso) from Klänge (Sounds) by Vasily Kandinsky is a crucial component of the artist’s groundbreaking 1913 publication of poetic prose and abstract prints. This specific piece, classified within the Illustrated Book category, is a small-scale woodcut demonstrating Kandinsky’s commitment to non-representational art at the zenith of European modernism. Created in 1913, the work serves as a headpiece for folio 56 verso, guiding the reader through the structure of the seminal Klänge volume, which contained fifty-six independent woodcuts alongside the artist’s own verses.

During this period, Kandinsky, a key figure in the development of pure abstraction, utilized the raw, expressive quality of the woodcut to move definitively away from traditional pictorial narrative. The publication, though highly influential across Europe, reflects the broad cultural sphere of the avant-garde, identified here with the French culture of the time, emphasizing the cosmopolitan exchange of ideas. Kandinsky sought a synthesis of the arts (a Gesamtkunstwerk), using the stark contrast of black and white prints to create a visual counterpoint to his lyrical, abstract text. The vignette, small but dynamically composed, acts as a visual punctuation mark, reinforcing the overall themes of sound and emotion that define the entire Klänge project.

The creation of these graphic works solidified Kandinsky’s reputation as a pioneer in expressing spiritual and internal states purely through form and line, even when constrained to the monochromatic limits of the woodcut medium. As a foundational work of German Expressionism and abstraction, the book format allowed for the wide dissemination of these radical ideas through reproductive media. The presence of the detailed prints in this collection highlights the importance of the graphic medium in establishing Modernist theory globally. This important example of early abstraction, known also by its German title Vignette bei "Bunte Wiese," remains within the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, underscoring its historical value as a landmark in the history of the Illustrated Book genre and modern prints from the pivotal year of 1913.