A pioneering work in the movement to free art from its traditional bonds to material reality, this book is one of the most important documents in the history of modern art. Written by the famous nonobjective painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944), it explains Kandinsky's own theory of painting and crystallizes the ideas that were influencing many other modern artists of the period. Along with his own groundbreaking paintings, this book had a tremendous impact on the development of modern art. Kandinsky's ideas are presented in two parts. The first part, called "About General Aesthetic," issues a call for a spiritual revolution in painting that will let artists express their own inner lives in abstract, non-material terms. Just as musicians do not depend upon the material world for their music, so artists should not have to depend upon the material world for their art. In the second part, "About Painting," Kandinsky discusses the psychology of colors, the language of form and color, and the responsibilities of the artist. An Introduction by the translator, Michael T. H. Sadler, offers additional explanation of Kandinsky's art and theories, while a new Preface by Richard Stratton discusses Kandinsky's career as a whole and the impact of the book. Making the book even more valuable are nine woodcuts by Kandinsky himself that appear at the chapter headings. This English translation of Über das Geistige in der Kunst was a significant contribution to the understanding of nonobjectivism in art. It continues to be a stimulating and necessary reading experience for every artist, art student, and art patron concerned with the direction of 20th-century painting.

Concerning the Spiritual in Art

WASSILY KANDINSKY

Religion & Spirituality

Dover Publications

The Blaue Reiter Almanac, the Documents of 2oth Century Art

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Thames and Hudson

Foreword by Carl E. Schorske. Exhibition catalog. "Munich as Cultureal Center: Politics and the Arts" by Peter Jelavich. "Kandinsky in Munich: Encounters and Transformations" by Peg Weiss. Chronology. Selected bibliography. Measures 8.5x10 inches.

Kandinsky in Munich: Eighteen Ninety-Six to Nineteen Fourteen

Individual Artists

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Art of tomorrow: Hilla Rebay and Solomon R. Guggenheim.

Rosenblum, Robert

Hilla Rebay

Vivian Barnett

Brigitte Salmen

Roland von Rebay

Rudolf Bauer

Hilla von Rebay

Guggenheim Museum

Life of Vasilii Kandinsky in Russian Art. a Study of on the Spiritual in Art

Oriental Research Partners

The standard monograph on seminal 20th-century master. 48 tipped-in colorplates.

Kandinsky

Hans K. Roethel

History

Hudson Hills

Wall Calendar 2026, Kandinsky Art, 12 Months, Large Grid Design Featuring 12 Artworks

POMEGRANATE

Pomegranate

All art students are advised to read "Concerning the Spiritual in Art," a short masterpiece by Wassily Kandinsky. This classic best explains the concepts that lead to abstract painting in the modern era Kandinsky recognized the connection between music and painting. He also suggested that artists free themselves from the material world so that they can express their inner impulses. Thus the abstract painting requires contemplation to reveal its meaning. Furthermore, the meaning may be a projection of the inner life of the viewer as much as it is the inner life of the artists. This concept is not new to music but it certainly was new to painting in 1911. Once considered a radical idea, the spiritual aspect of abstract art is now a given in culture. Wassily Kandinsky offers some very insightful comments regarding his contemporaries, recognizing Matisse as the 20th century master of color and Picasso as the 20th century master of line. He faults them both, however, for not making the final step toward complete abandonment of the physical world. In "Concerning the Spiritual in Art," Kandinsky also asserts that imitative painting of other eras was a deadly trap for the artist, yet responding to the eternal call of the unconscious forces in an earlier period of art history was a valid area of exploration. Kandinsky believed that art progressed, that artistic concepts built on each other and that there was a triangle of artistic conception that moved forward to some end point, yet to be discovered. Kandinsky warns against pattern painting, which he thought would lead to monotony and away from spirituality. Every artist owes it to themselves to read "Concerning the Spiritual in Art." Though short, this book is the classic on which much art history, philosophy, and practice has been based.

Wassily Kandinsky: Concerning the Spiritual in Art

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Concerning the Spiritual in Art by Wassily Kandinsky.  About the Author:  Kandinsky was born in the year 1866 and differently from what people can suppose he wasn't originally a painter. In fact in Odessa he went to the university of law and economics. Just in a second part of his life he will rediscover the passion for art and colours that he used to have when he was a child.  The first period of Kandisnsky life and career as a painter will be based on paints dedicated to the expression of intense and deep thoughts of the artist. Is during this period that the artist together with a group of other people will give birth to "der blaue reiter" translated with the blue knight. It was a group of artists heart of the German expressionism.   During his studies as artist and painter Kandinsky will meet a wide variety of sources of inspiration but topics that will most affect his work will be the colour symbolism and the psychology. To give fame to Kandinsky, or at last, to make his fame so great is the fact that to this artist is attributable one of the first abstract works of the modern art.  During his life the artist will get in touch and become a member of symbolists groups and in particular will be part of the group known as the blue rose which will be (or critics think so) somehow involved in the creation of the painting: The blue mountain.  In the painting the use of horses symbolize the battle of the author against traditional art in fact in the same period during which he completed "The blue mountain" he also achieved to realize many other paintings about horses and riders, actually the amount of these paintings is of at last seven.  To better understand this artist, anyway, there are mainly other two elements to know and understand. These elements are the artistic movements that inspired and, in different periods, attracted the artist. Of all the possible movements to list two were particularly important to Kandinsky: Fauvism and pointillism.  Fauvism was mainly known in France, it wasn't a real and officially known group of artists but they were very close to themes of the impressionism following the experiences made by Van Gogh and Gaugin. The use of bright and unnatural colours was the element that attracted Kandinsky. For basically the same reason, the artist, will spend a period close to the other group: the group of pointillist artists. Where other than the colours’ use Kandinsky will be interested also to the loss of unitary shapes.

TATE GALLERY PUBLISH

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Books by WASSILY KANDINSKY