Small Worlds II - Wassily Kandinsky

A 1922 lithograph by Wassily Kandinsky from his Kleine Welten portfolio, featuring geometric abstraction and balanced colour fields.

Small Worlds II is a lithograph from the portfolio Kleine Welten (Small Worlds), produced by Wassily Kandinsky in 1922. During this period, Kandinsky was a teacher at the Bauhaus in Weimar, a position that influenced his approach to printmaking and geometric abstraction. The portfolio consists of twelve prints, each exploring the relationship between geometric forms, lines, and colour fields.

In this composition, Kandinsky arranges distinct shapes against a neutral background. A large, soft-edged blue oval provides a base for the more rigid elements. Over this, he places a series of intersecting lines, a textured semi-circle, and solid black discs. The interplay between the textured surfaces and the flat, primary-coloured shapes creates a sense of spatial tension. The yellow curved form at the base anchors the composition, while the diagonal elements suggest movement and directionality.

Kandinsky often compared his visual compositions to musical arrangements, seeking to evoke emotional responses through the arrangement of non-representational forms. In Small Worlds II, the balance of weight and scale demonstrates his interest in the mathematical precision of the Bauhaus aesthetic, combined with his earlier exploration of spiritual abstraction. The print reflects his transition from the freer, more expressive forms of his earlier career toward the structured, analytical approach he developed in the 1920s. The work is a clear example of his ability to organise disparate elements into a cohesive, balanced whole without relying on figurative representation. The lithographic process allows for the crisp edges and flat colour application that define this period of his output, providing a clear view into his systematic approach to visual language.