Shawm, from the portfolio Xylographies - Wassily Kandinsky

A striking black and white woodcut by Wassily Kandinsky, featuring Russian folk figures and traditional motifs from his early Xylographies portfolio.

This woodcut, titled Shawm, originates from the portfolio Xylographies, produced by Wassily Kandinsky during his early period. The work displays a clear interest in Russian folk motifs and fairy-tale imagery, themes that occupied the artist before his transition into complete abstraction. The composition features three figures in traditional attire, set against a dark, dense background that suggests a forest or a nocturnal scene. Kandinsky employs a high-contrast aesthetic, typical of the woodcut medium, where white lines and shapes emerge from a solid black ground. The figure on the left plays a shawm, a medieval wind instrument, while the central figure stands with arms outstretched, holding long ribbons or fabric. To the right, a third figure completes the grouping. In the background, the silhouette of a church with an onion dome provides a specific cultural marker, rooting the scene in a Russian context. Technically, the print relies on a rhythmic arrangement of marks. The ground is covered in small, vertical dashes that create a sense of texture, while the figures are rendered with simplified, bold forms. The lack of traditional perspective flattens the image, pushing the figures to the front of the picture plane. This approach reflects the influence of folk art and popular prints, which Kandinsky admired for their directness and lack of academic artifice. The Xylographies portfolio represents a period of experimentation where Kandinsky explored the relationship between line, shape, and narrative. By stripping away colour and focusing on the interplay of black and white, he creates a graphic tension that anticipates his later work in non-objective art. This print offers a view into the artist's early visual vocabulary, where the decorative and the symbolic merge into a unified, rhythmic composition.