Concerning the Spiritual in Art and Painting in Particular [An Updated Version of the Sadleir Translation]

Softcover

ISBN 10: 161427665X ISBN 13: 9781614276654

Publisher: Martino Fine Books, 2014

2014 Reprint of 1947 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. An updated version of the Sadleir translation, with considerable re-translation by Francis Golffing, Michael Harrison and Ferdinand Ostertag. Published in 1912, Kandinsky's book defines three types of painting; impressions, improvisations and compositions. While impressions are based on an external reality that serves as a starting point, improvisations and compositions depict images emergent from the unconscious, though composition is developed from a more formal point of view. Kandinsky compares the spiritual life of humanity to a pyramid-the artist has a mission to lead others to the pinnacle with his work. The point of the pyramid is occupied by few great artists. It is a spiritual pyramid, advancing and ascending slowly even if it sometimes appears immobile. During decadent periods, the soul sinks to the bottom of the pyramid; humanity searches only for external success, ignoring spiritual forces. This edition contains a new introduction by Nina Kandinsky, his widow, providing Kandinsky's own corrections and additions for a new edition that never appeared in his lifetime. She has also written for this edition a memoir of Kandinsky's development.