We are pleased to present a very special portfolio entitled Kleine Welten (Small Worlds), 1922. This portfolio of prints by Wassily Kandinsky(1866–1944) includes a unique note from Kandinsky to Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus, and his wife, Ise, on the occasion of their wedding in October 1923.

In 1981, the eminent collector and art dealer Serge Sabarsky acquired this portfolio from the Gropius' daughter, Beate ("Ati"). It has remained in the same collection until now. Our portfolio is an artist’s proof, separate from the full edition of 230, and is in pristine condition. Kleine Welten offers unique insight into Kandinsky’s practice during a critical professional and personal juncture. Editions of Kleine Welten are held in major museum collections, including The Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Centre Pompidou, and the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus. Yet no collection, public or private, has the portfolio with a handwritten dedication.

Wassily Kandinsky (1866&ndash;1944)

Portfolio of&nbsp;Kleine Welten (Small Worlds), 1922 (no. III)

Lithograph on paper

Sheet: 14 x 11 in. (35.5 x 27.9 cm)

Image: 11 x 9 in. (27.9 x 22.8 cm)

Initialed and dated lower left in stone: VK 22

Signed lower right: Kandinsky

(Roethel 166)

Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944)

Portfolio of Kleine Welten (Small Worlds), 1922 (no. III)

Lithograph on paper

Sheet: 14 x 11 in. (35.5 x 27.9 cm)

Image: 11 x 9 in. (27.9 x 22.8 cm)

Initialed and dated lower left in stone: VK 22

Signed lower right: Kandinsky

(Roethel 166)

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In June 1922, Kandinsky accepted Gropius’s invitation to become a master at the Bauhaus and relocated to Weimar. Though a native of Russia, his return to Germany was a homecoming. He had lived in Munich and then Murnau from 1896 to 1914, where in 1911 he co-founded Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) with Franz Marc. With the outbreak of World War I, Kandinsky was compelled to leave Munich for Moscow, where he became immersed in the avant-garde as a teacher, high-level administrator, and contributor to publications. He soon became disillusioned with the feverish radicalism surrounding him, while local critics viewed his work as romantic and irrational. Gropius’s offer, therefore, provided him a welcome escape.

Wassily Kandinsky (1866&ndash;1944)

Portfolio of&nbsp;Kleine Welten (Small Worlds), 1922 (no. VI)

Woodcut on paper

Sheet: 14 x 12 1/3 in. (35.56 x 31.3 cm)

Image: 10 3/4 x 9 1/3 in. (27 x 23.7 cm)

Initialed&nbsp;lower left on stock: VK

Signed lower right: Kandinsky

(Roethel 169)

Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944)

Portfolio of Kleine Welten (Small Worlds), 1922 (no. VI)

Woodcut on paper

Sheet: 14 x 12 1/3 in. (35.56 x 31.3 cm)

Image: 10 3/4 x 9 1/3 in. (27 x 23.7 cm)

Initialed lower left on stock: VK

Signed lower right: Kandinsky

(Roethel 169)

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Not long after joining the Bauhaus, Kandinsky created the 12 prints for Kleine Welten. Containing four lithographs, four woodcuts (two of which merge lithography and woodcut techniques), and four etchings, the portfolio also features a colophon, in which Kandinsky describes his intent behind including the three mediums: "Each technique was chosen for its appropriate character. The character of each technique played an external role in helping to create 4 different ‘small worlds.'"

Kleine Welten is a testament to Kandinsky’s technical brilliance and his deep commitment to process and play. It is also an early example of the creative flowering he would experience at the Bauhaus, perhaps his most productive time as an artist. As Kandinsky would famously proclaim, “to create a work of art is to create the world.” Here, he manifested 12 worlds, appearing at once as minute gardens of life and immense cosmic entities.

Images

Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944)

Portfolio of Kleine Welten (Small Worlds), 1922 (cover)

Cover

18 x 14 in. (45.7 x 35.5 cm)