A 1922 lithograph by Wassily Kandinsky, Small Worlds I features a dynamic arrangement of geometric and organic forms characteristic of his Bauhaus period.

Small Worlds I is a lithograph from the 1922 portfolio titled Small Worlds, produced during Wassily Kandinsky's tenure at the Bauhaus in Weimar. This period marked a shift in his approach to abstraction, moving away from the more fluid, intuitive forms of his earlier Munich years toward a structured, geometric vocabulary. The work displays a constellation of disparate elements: sharp diagonal bars, circular motifs, and jagged, organic shapes that float across a neutral ground.

Kandinsky treated the picture plane as a space for the interaction of forces rather than a representation of physical reality. The composition relies on the tension between these varied shapes and the deliberate placement of colour. Primary hues of red, blue, and yellow are balanced against black lines and secondary green accents. The lithographic process allowed Kandinsky to achieve flat, precise areas of colour, which align with his theoretical interest in the psychological properties of form and tone.

By 1922, Kandinsky had begun to codify his theories on the relationship between geometric shapes and colour, a subject he would later expand upon in his writings. Small Worlds I functions as a demonstration of this visual language. The arrangement of lines and shapes suggests movement and rhythm, yet the work remains grounded by its deliberate, calculated structure. This print offers a clear view into the artist's transition toward the more rigid, analytical compositions that defined his later career. It remains a representative example of the graphic output produced by the Bauhaus masters during the early 1920s.