Small Worlds VII (Kleine Welten VII)
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Object Label
Vasily Kandinsky created this lithograph as he was moving away from figuration and toward using a complex vocabulary of nonobjective forms and colors to express spiritual content. Here, curving arabesque lines and geometric shapes suggest organic or kinetic forces interacting to create a miniature universe, as suggested by the work’s title, Small Worlds.
The work comes from a portfolio Kandinsky published that was meant to highlight the unique qualities of different printmaking processes. Lithography appealed to him because it could produce a potentially limitless number of impressions—something the artist believed made it particularly modern and democratic.
Caption
Vasily Kandinsky Moscow, Russia, 1866 – 1944, Neuilly–sur–Seine, France. Small Worlds VII (Kleine Welten VII), 1922. Color lithograph on wove paper, Image: 10 5/8 x 9 3/16 in. (27 x 23.3 cm) Sheet: 13 15/16 x 11 3/16 in. (35.4 x 28.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Stephen Currier, 58.108.11. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 58.108.11_transpc002.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Artist
Title
Small Worlds VII (Kleine Welten VII)
Portfolio
Date
1922
Geography
Place made: Germany
Medium
Color lithograph on wove paper
Classification
Dimensions
Image: 10 5/8 x 9 3/16 in. (27 x 23.3 cm) Sheet: 13 15/16 x 11 3/16 in. (35.4 x 28.4 cm)
Signatures
Signed "Kandinsky" in pencil, lower right margin, signed in stone, lower left with monogram
Credit Line
Gift of Stephen Currier
Accession Number
58.108.11
Rights
© artist or artist's estate
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