On the spiritual in art : First complete English translation, with four full colour page reproductions, woodcuts and half tones

1946·5.5 MB·English

by  Kandinsky, Wassily, 1866-1944

ON ART
THE SPIRITUAL
IN
BY WASSILY KANDINSKY
(

Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive
in 2011 witii funding from
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Library and Archives
http://www.archive.org/details/onspiritualinartOOkand

KANDINSKY
X
DAS GEISTIGE
DER KUNST
IN
DRITTB AUFLAQE
COVER REPRODUCTION OF ORIGINAL EDITION
WASSILY KANDINSKY 1866- 1944
WASSILY KANDINSKY
ON
THE SPIRITUAL ART
IN
FIRST COMPLETE ENGLISH TRANSLATION
WITH FOUR FULL COLOUR PAGE REPRO-
DUCTIONS, WOODCUTS AND HALF TONES
PUBLISHED BY THE SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM
FOUNDATION. FOR THE MUSEUM OF NON-OBJECTIVE
PAINTING. NEW YORK CITY. 1946. HILLA REBAY. EDITOR
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF ELIZABETH TICHEJEFF
COPYRIGHTED BY THE SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION. 1946
SECOND PRINTING
CONTENTS Page
Foreword to First Original Edition 6
Foreword to Second Original Edition 7
Foreword to the 1946 New York Edition of Wassily Kandinslcy's "On
the Spiritual in Art" 8
A—
GENERAL
Introduction 9
I
II The Movement 15
III The Spiritual Turning-point 21
IV The Pyramid 34
B—PAINTING
V The Effect of Colour 39
VI The Language of Form and Colour 44
VII Theory 79
VIII Art and Artists 91
CONCLUSION
94
Survey of Forty Years of Kandinslcy's Artistic Evolution 05
1
Public Comments 127
List of Full Page Illustrations 153
FOREWORD TO THE FIRST ORIGINAL EDITION
By Piper and Company Munich, 1911
The thoughts, which am developing here are the result of observations
I
and spiritual experiences, which have been assembled gradually during
the last five, six years. My intention was, to write extensively on this sub-
ject, for which many experiments, in the realm of feeling, would have
been necessary. For the time being, due to other important work, have
I
had to abandon my initial plan. Perhaps I shall never be able to realize
it, for someone else will do it better and more exhaustively, which is neces-
sary, while am forced to content myself with a mere outline. My only
I
purpose is to draw attention to this great problem, and I shall consider
myself fortunate if this appeal should not be lost in the void.