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Back cover (Hills, Trees, Clouds and Figure) from Xylographs (Xylographies)

Maidens in peasant costumes dance in forests outside of medieval cities, and knights ride in service of an idealized world. Xylographies (Xylographs) sounds Kandinsky's longing for the Old Russia of his imagination, a fairy-tale land of spiritual harmony. In these prints, Kandinsky reduces identifiable form and dematerializes figures and ground under a veil of decorative patterning, leaving only the most essential aspects decipherable. Kandinsky devalued recognizable subject matter, stating in an exhibition catalogue published in 1910, "Speaking of secrets through secrets? Is that not the content?"

Kandinsky likened printmaking to music, and his process here draws out "inner sound" of his subj...

1909 (executed 1907)
One from a portfolio of eight heliogravures after woodcuts (including front cover, back cover and title page)
3.7 x 6.9cm
2454.1967.8
Image © 2019 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Text © MoMA - Museum of Modern Art, New York

Where you'll find this

The Museum of Modern Art
Permanent collection