Concerning the Spiritual in Art

Kandinsky opens with two quotes—by Paul Signac and Eugene Delacroix— suggesting the “deep relationship between the arts, and especially between music and painting” (27); these quotes foretell the more abstract, spiritual nature which Kandinsky believes art will assume in the future.

He then discusses in depth the relationship between color and form, the two constitutive elements of art. Form can exist by itself, without color. Color cannot exist by itself, except in the mind, but must be defined by “boundaries” that consist of various forms. Form influences color by giving it shape and boundaries, and color in turn influences form by individuating it and giving it “different spiritual values” (29).

Form has both an “outer” and an “inner meaning.” Form’s outer meaning is as the boundary or “separating line” between various colors; its inner meaning is the way in which it affects the human soul. These meanings mutually support each other: If the inner meaning is “fully expressed,” the outer aspect will also be coherent and well made. Kandinsky thus states the second “guiding principle” of the inner need: “Form-harmony” must correspond with a particular “vibration of the human soul” (29).

Kandinsky discusses how an artist may harmonize the material and the nonmaterial in painting. Form may either delineate a material object, or it may remain an abstract shape. Even if the artist chooses to depict a material object, it is rarely an exact copy as in photography; instead, artists “idealize” objects to some extent. Kandinsky stakes a claim that abstract forms make a more “clear and direct” appeal to the viewer than material objects, and that these latter may therefore be omitted for compositional reasons. At the same time, Kandinsky rejects the notion that modern artists should abandon representation entirely and paint only abstractions; he insists that “there is no “must” in art” (32) and that art must be free, in accordance with the inner need.

Now Kandinsky defines the inner need in greater detail. The inner need consists of “three mystical elements” (33):

1. The artist seeks to express something from within themselves—their personality.

2. The artist expresses themselves through a style rooted in a particular time and place.

3. Despite belonging to a particular time and culture, the artist must serve the cause of art as a whole in an eternal and universal sense.

Kandinsky specifies that the third element marks true greatness in an artist, but it is only recognized after much time—perhaps centuries—has passed. Further, Kandinsky claims that the inner need develops in art by expressing the “eternal and objective in the terms of the periodic and subjective” (34). Further, the inner need demands that the artist have perfect freedom to express his “inner impulse” in whatever “outward expression” is suitable to it. In this way, style and personality will naturally come without the artist going deliberately in search of them.

Colors are the starting point from which the artist communicates emotionally with viewers. Thus, Kandinsky enters into a description of the specific psychologies of the colors. Colors can be classified in their emotional effect as warm or cold, and as light or dark. Warm colors are those that approach yellow on the color scale, and cool colors are those that approach blue. Yellow has the property of going outward to the spectator, whereas blue seems to retreat from the spectator; therefore, yellow is more “bodily” and “earthly” in character while blue is more “spiritual,” with a deeper appeal to the viewer.

White and black are the other pair of opposites in the color scheme. White and black are both inactive in character; but whereas white represents a silence full of possibilities, black represents a silence of negation and death. Red is a warm color, but without the shrillness and obviousness of yellow; it has depth and inwardness like blue. By adding yellow to it to make orange, red comes closer to the viewer; by adding blue to it to make violet, it recedes from the viewer.

When the two opposites yellow and blue meet each other, they form green, which in contrast to its components is inactive and calm but with a feeling of “potential activity.” Likewise, the opposites white and black meet to form gray, another restful color. Because of their inherent properties, colors can be used to create a deliberate emotional effect on human beings, whether to excite or calm them.

Kandinsky concludes by emphasizing that words can only capture so much when discussing colors and art. The various arts can together contribute to the expression associated with colors. By reinforcing each other, the arts can have a beneficial effect on society by encouraging positive emotions. Moreover, by using repetition, art can build up harmonies between various colors or emotions.

Thus, Kandinsky argues that in the future paintings can be made that attempt to build various color harmonies in a purely artistic and expressive way—including combinations of colors formerly considered “discordant.” Thus, experimentation with color opens “great vistas of artistic possibility” (44). Kandinsky argues further that future art should enlarge possibilities by showing multiple planes of space on a single canvas, as the Cubists are doing, but in a more “inner” and “spiritual” manner; color too can be used here to aid in creating a more extended sense of space.