Concerning the Spiritual in Art

Putting aside the technical discussions of the previous two chapters, Kandinsky focuses on Spiritual Revolution through Creativity. In this brief chapter, he offers a call or plea to artists to fulfill their mission of furthering the progress of the spiritual triangle as it moves “onwards and upwards” (55).

Reiterating his earlier stance, Kandinsky makes a strong statement about the inner need granting the artist “absolute freedom” in deciding what to depict and how to depict it in his art. A good work of art creates a “spiritual atmosphere” with a strong sense of meaning that calls forth vibrations in the soul; thus, a work of art is successful if “its spiritual value is complete and satisfying” (53), and this is more important than simply reproducing material reality. Kandinsky implies that artists may depict objects in ways that differ from their appearance in nature if the artists’ subjective needs demand such alteration.

At the same time, Kandinsky balances his comments about freedom with statements outlining the artist’s responsibilities and obligations. Kandinsky implies that freedom implies corresponding duties—notably, that of being a spiritual force for good in society. To do this, the artist must first have cultivated his own soul so that he can bear a meaningful message in his art. Further, Kandinsky balances his statement about the primacy of the inner need over nature by speaking against a “blind and purposeless rejection” (53) of nature. Nature, Kandinsky implies, exists as a necessary guideline and standard for the artist. There is nothing inherently wrong with technical mastery, but it is not an end in itself; it must serve a higher purpose, that of expressing “inner meaning.”

In sum, this chapter presents many of Kandinsky’s previous ideas in a concentrated form aimed to rally artists to the cause of a spiritually communicative art.