Concerning the Spiritual in Art

Kandinsky acknowledges that it is difficult today to formulate a complete theory for the creation of art. This is because art is in the midst of great changes, particularly in the direction of abstraction. Kandinsky cautions against making a complete break between art and nature and pursuing only color and abstract form, as neither artists nor audiences are yet sufficiently evolved to be able to understand the spiritual power of such images. The result, Kandinsky warns, would be a merely decorative art, akin to patterns on neckties or carpets.

Colors can be used to convey specific emotion and “spiritual values” when applied to particular forms and objects, and to create or enhance the emotional meaning of a picture. Colors can even be used to create emotional effects independently of the actual colors of the objects in nature—for example, a red horse can create the sense of a fantastical imaginative world. The inner meaning is more important than the “outer qualities of nature” (49).

Elaborating on this theory of color, Kandinsky compares a painting to a conversation. When we converse with an “interesting person,” we try to understand their “fundamental ideas and feelings” (49) rather than to analyze the technical aspects of their speech, grammar, etc.