Discussing Wassily Kandinsky's Essay: "Concerning the Spiritual in Art"

I was reading an essay recently by that most famous of early abstract painters (at least in my book) Wassily Kandinsky, published in 1914 as: The Art of Spiritual Harmony, (translated by Michael Sadler). I was particularly struck by the second part of it entitled; "The Movement of the Triangle". It describes a diagram that is a simile for the life of the spirit. I didn't see a diagram anywhere so I thought I would make one, because I don't know about you, but I am a visual learner. Sometimes I can read something twenty times and not really get it, until I map it out for myself. Along with my diagram, I have also selected what I consider the most vital elements of Kandinsky's "The Movement of the Triangle" and presented them below: (Click above for full essay.)

"The life of the spirit may be fairly represented in diagram as a large acute-angled triangle divided horizontally into unequal parts with the narrowest segment uppermost. The lower the segment the greater it is in breadth, depth, and area.

The whole triangle is moving slowly, almost invisibly forwards and upwards. Where the apex was today the second segment is tomorrow; what today can be understood only by the apex and to the rest of the triangle is an incomprehensible gibberish, forms tomorrow the true thought and feeling of the second segment."

And then here is my diagram:

(Note: the article is in the public domain, but the diagram is © by Ed Tajchman 2008.)

Kandinsky goes on to say:

"At the apex of the top segment stands often one man, and only one. His joyful vision cloaks a vast sorrow. Even those who are nearest to him in sympathy do not understand him. Angrily they abuse him as charlatan or madman. So in his lifetime stood Beethoven, solitary and insulted."

and a paragraph later....

"In every segment of the triangle are artists. Each one of them who can see beyond the limits of his segment is a prophet to those about him, and helps the advance of the obstinate whole. But those who are blind, or those who retard the movement of the triangle for baser reasons, are fully understood by their fellows and acclaimed for their genius. The greater the segment (which is the same as saying the lower it lies in the triangle) so the greater the number who understand the words of the artist. Every segment hungers consciously or, much more often, unconsciously for their corresponding spiritual food. This food is offered by the artists, and for this food the segment immediately below will tomorrow be stretching out eager hands."

Wassily Kandinsky

You can see from diagram a. above the artists and their vision; they create spiritual growth; spiritual food as Kandinsky says for the artists on the level below them, and thus move the whole of understanding forward. You can also see in diagram b. the ones on the bottom, inhibiting the growth of knowledge and understanding.

One modern example of the latter is, (I won't name any names) but think about the work of several of those very successful commercial 'painters', (you know who I mean). The ones who create overly-cheesy, 'safe', repetitious, massively reproduced work. I too If I so desired, could paint pictures of puppy dogs and sunsets and cottages and sell them for profit.

By giving in to the temptation to create solely for money though, and not taking risks, you limit your vision and growth as an artist. And therefore impede the progress of our understanding of reality as a whole, by not fully exploring the gifts you have been given. I'm not saying success is bad of course, but I prefer risky work; ones who create out of a desire to express themselves in a new and unique way; broadening the nature of our understanding of this world.

But that's just one aspect (from my perspective) of a very broad dynamic that Kandinsky is speaking of. So, hopefully I was able to offer up a little bit of spiritual food today for you with this post. If you read this much you might as well read the whole article, (link is at the top) it is a very fascinating read.

Some Thoughts on Abstract Expression

In my quest to expand my philosophy of art and know art history, I have found that the work of Mark Rothko is some of the most controversial art that is feared by 'realist' painters and thinkers. Often they cite his work in their desperate attempt to undermine anything that is not concretely defined or anything they don't understand. Rothko sought to know the things he didn't understand, here's a quote from the man himself....

"Art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can only be explored by those willing to take risks."

-Mark Rothko

I agree completely with him when says that "art is an adventure." And he was one of the greatest adventurers of that unknown world, leaving us a magnificent body of work, portals right into the depths of his soul. Yes, there are absolutely some artist's out there who simplify their expression into a kind of dull, simple, decorative display of swooshes and textures, with maybe some gold leaf and bits of music written on parchment thrown in, and then call there work 'contemporary'. If I was president (thank heavens I'm not) I would have all of these artists banned from art supply stores everywhere.

They are a reason serious artists like myself and Rothko have a harder time reaching a wider audience with our art. What I am saying is that labels like 'abstract' and 'non-objective' or contemporary, just get in the way of what is soulful art. An effort to reach across time and space with your work to touch people in an honest way with reflections of your own soul. This is what Rothko did,... If you've ever seen one of his paintings in person you know that it shines like a beacon the moment you enter the room it's in. (It does for me anyways).

Kazimir Malevich on his Early Work

Below is an interesting quote from Kazimir Malevich on his earlier work. A member of the Futurist and Suprematism art movements, he was a champion of non-representational art, (images not depicting the natural world; or non-objective art) as not only a valid form of expression, but a dominant one. In his Futurist style he used many icons or images from his past and present. But he considered this style of Cubo-futurism to be too dependent on images of the natural world. He sought a more distinct and personal, universal clean kind of abstraction and thus was born his Suprematism style. A supreme form of abstraction; an attempt at avoiding completely any relation at all to anything else in the world.

"Nobody understood that an icon was a representation of an actual person, or that color was its medium of expression. I never made any association of ideas when I looked at these paintings, and they seemed to have nothing to do with me or my life."

-Kazimir Malevich (1878 -1935) quoted in: Malevich , Jośe Maria Faerna.

Malevich, Suprematism Two Dimensional Self Portrait 1915

Paul Klee on Art and Seeing

Paul Klee's work is simply amazing. This Swiss-born German artist was friends with Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky; and I for one can definitely see a link between the styles of the two painters. Relationships between famous artists of history always fascinate me. Following the chain of influence, teaching, style -progression, and the ever changing ideas and work of modern thinkers and artists is hugely interesting.

My definition of modern in this context is; being at the forefront or defining the philosophy or style of your time, or any time. For example Plato is an ancient philosopher but his ideas are still as fascinating and eternal today as they were then. Also take Sir Isaac Newton for example, who discovered the force of gravity and said that we were not the center of the universe, (a huge leap in thought for the time which set-off a scientific revolution).

"Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, it makes us see."

-Paul Klee (1879 -1940)

Anyways, back to painter Paul Klee. There is such an amazing and lengthy body of work that this man gave us, it's hard to know where to begin. Take a look at this gallery of his work, Klee's Mandalas. It is an interesting take on the life and work of this great modern artist.

Understanding Art with Marcel Duchamp

The more I learn about Marcel Duchamp the more I think he is one of the great pioneers of modern thinking not only in art but in culture in general. One could easily draw comparisons between Duchamp's redefining of what 'art is' and comedian Andy Kauffman's redefining of what 'comedy is'. One of the main themes in the work of both cases being (to me anyways) that the thought behind the art as well as the result is together the work of art. Both men were not afraid to get booed or receive criticism for their controversial and conceptual art.

"What I have in mind is that art may be bad, good or indifferent, but, whatever adjective is used, we must call it art, and bad art is still art in the same way that a bad emotion is still an emotion."

-Marcel Duchamp (from The Creative Act)

In the Duchamp quote above he speaks of the perception of a work of art. A lot of people might make their perception of an art piece based partially on (what I'll call the 'academic technique') of a work of art. But Duchamp reminds us that this is not necessarily the most dominant factor in a piece of art, if it plays a role at all. Click on The Creative Act link above, (in the quote credit) it's an essay Duchamp presented in 1957, and is quite fascinating.

Andrew Wyeth on Abstraction

Andrew Wyeth has been criticized for being too-realistic in his style. Being someone who promotes the philosophy of modern art and who also prefers paintings that are non-representational, I love his work. I agree with him in his following quote, that some people might miss the overall-feeling of the work.

They're seeing only one side of it. They don't see the tone. If you can combine realism and abstraction, you've go something terrific."

-Andrew Wyeth (quoted in Modern American Painting, 1970, Time Life Books.)

Some realist painters blindly paint exactly what they see, or try to anyways. Although Wyeth's work is ultra-realistic, to me his paintings each have an underlying composition of emotional tone. An obvious kind of foreboding or tension that you can see in the work. So I completely agree with his words above, and many would agree that he does create terrific paintings using realism and abstraction.

Edvard Munch on Color, Line, and Form

Norwegian artist Edvard Munch was stylistically ahead of his time. He was a print-maker, a symbolist painter, and an influence in the development of German Expressionism, a style I feel especially drawn towards. I love the following quote, because emphasis on line and vibration or flow of those lines (for lack of better words) are elements I use in my work.

"By painting colors and lines and forms seen in quickened mood I was seeking to make this mood vibrate as a phonograph does. "

-Edvard Munch (1863 -1944)

I like the way he used color and line forms to define moods in his work. It's easy to call someone like French painter Henri Matisse (1869 - 1954) a forefather of modern art, but Munch played a prime and vital role in that development also. The self-portrait below is a prime example; you will be hard pressed to find a painting from 1895 with that much expressionistic color, texture, and overall mysterious feel.

Edvard Munch, Self Portrait with Cigarette, 1895

Jackson Pollack on the Modern Artist

I don't care what anyone says, Jackson Pollock is the MAN when it comes to painting. And he doesn't need my praise, so let's hear Pollack in his own words with this quote:

"The modern artist... is working and expressing an inner world - in other words - expressing the energy, the motion, and other inner forces."

-Jackson Pollock

Science, metaphysics, geometry, energy, all of these things are not different from what a painter deals with. Pollock sought out the very inner nature of what made him Jackson Pollock and what made him human.

Art Expressing the Unconscious

This quote is so true for me and my method of expression and creating art:

"What I am seeking is not the real and not the unreal but rather the unconscious, the mystery of the instinctive in the human race."

- Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (1884 - 1920)

We as humans are individuals and also inter-connected in different ways and levels. My art and my methods pursue the same things Modigliani was after, to reveal the inner nature of the human mind and spirit through one's art. It's not a matter of physical reality or surreality but a matter of honest and true expression on a deeper level. This is where I feel people who discard subjective art so easily really miss the point. Anyone can re-create reality with technical skill in painting, but a true artist as the power to express that individuality that is them; while also striking a deep chord with people who view the work.

Alfred Manessier on Non-Objective Art

This quote from French painter Manessier is one of my favorite all time quotes from any person of all time. I really identify and agree with the sentiment completely, and is fundamental in the philosophy behind my painting. A true artist is akin to a spiritual journeymen, a kind of mystic; losing oneself in the work only to find a truer self, and a truer reality.

"The potential today seems to me to lie in non-objective art, because through it the painter can best find his way back to reality and to an awareness of that which is essential in it."

-Alfred Manessier (1911 - 1993)

Art is Non-Objective in Nature

I find this quote interesting because it helps me understand a passage from French philosopher Henri Bergson that I have posted here: Henri Bergson quote. Art, especially abstract art is a completely subjective experience.

"Art has absolutely no existence as veracity, as truth."

-Marcel Duchamp

Concrete truth only pertains to it in the sense that it is hopefully, an honest expression from the artist. And regardless of the objectivity or subjectivity of the art, it has the power to invoke powerful responses, or awaken new trains of thought. Artists are like the light on a spelunker's hat, lighting the way into the unknown darkness.

T.S. Eliot on Twentieth Century Art

The following quote from T.S. Eliot illustrates a lot of reasons that I create and enjoy modern art:

"Twentieth-century art may start with nothing, but it flourishes by virtue of its belief in itself, in the possibility of control over what seems essentially uncontrollable, in the coherence of the inchoate, and in its ability to create its own values."

-T. S. Eliot

I like art that has a poetic rhythm to it, or lack of a traditional structure; something that creates an entirely new plane with a new language, free of traditional symbols or implied notions. I cannot express this idea enough; I just don't get art that merely strives to recreate life and celebrates when it does so.

Romanticism is Modern Art

The French do have a way with words. One of my other favorite poets is also a Frenchman; Rimbaud. But let's look at this quote from Charles Baudelaire:

"To say the word Romanticism is to say modern art -- that is, intimacy, spirituality, color, aspiration towards the infinite, expressed by every means available to the arts.”

-Charles Baudelaire (French Poet, 1821-1867)

Very eloquent too, are his words, and very true. the invention of the camera freed the artist from the bounds of merely recreating life and opened the floodgates into the realm of creating reflections of the spirit; and everything that Baudelaire says above. This is another instance of me not being able to say it better, no matter how many words I try to use.

Gauguin on the Modern Art Audience

Gauguin was alive from 1848-1903. His words are has true today, if not more so than when he wrote them.

“The history of modern art is also the history of the progressive loss of art's audience. Art has increasingly become the concern of the artist and the bafflement of the public.”

-Paul Gauguin

Although artists like Jackson Pollack, Salvador Dali, and Andy Warhol achieved a measure of popular success during their lifetime, there remains a disconnect between the philosophy of modern art has a whole, and culture in general. That's part of the goal here at Modern Art Quotes, to give a more down to earth exploration of the ideals involved in modern art.

Carl Jung on Creativity

I really relate to the ideas presented in the following passage of Carl Jung's:

"...There are hardly any exceptions to the rule that a person must pay dearly for the divine gift of the creative fire. It is as though each of us were endowed at birth with a certain capital of energy. The strongest force in our make-up will seize and all but monopolize this energy, leaving so little over that nothing of value can come of it. In this way the creative force can drain the human impulses to such a degree that the personal ego must develop all sorts of bad qualities...in order to maintain the spark of life and to keep itself from being wholly bereft...[these negatives] of artists resembles that of illegitimate or neglected children who from their tenderest years must protect themselves from the destructive influence of people who have no love to give them--who develop bad qualities for that very purpose and later maintain an invincible egocentrism by remaining all their lives infantile and helpless or by actively offending against the moral code or the law."

(-Carl Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul, 1933.)

I identify with that idea of the creative self protecting itself; of striking out against people and situations which inhibit my creative self or monopolize my time. Even acting out in subconscious ways; The part of the self that seeks to create is another part of one's self with it's own needs which it will seek out in various ways. Has I said, I find this moving because it's so very true for myself. Read this article where I found the quote: How Art Creates the Artist.

Universal Rhythmic Flow

Thomas Wilfred started experimenting with the concept of light has art in 1905, so when I read this quote; I was amazed that it came from so early in the 20th century, -

"Shall we . . . use the new art as a vehicle for a new message (and) express the human longing which light has always symbolized, a longing for a greater reality, a cosmic consciousness, a balance between the human entity and the great common denominator, the universal rhythmic flow?"

(-Thomas Wilfred, quoted in Art & Physics by Leonard Shlain, p. 263)

The universal rhythmic flow is part of what I try to express with my painting, and in my mind this ties in with the concept of transcendentalism expressed through art. Dictionary.com defines transcendentalism has:

2. Also called transcendental philosophy. any philosophy based upon the doctrine that the principles of reality are to be discovered by the study of the processes of thought, or a philosophy emphasizing the intuitive and spiritual above the empirical.

To me, this is the concept that the artists' work is the process for revealing and understanding the true nature of reality, not disregarding science, but adding to it. Some of the roots for these ideas can also be found in the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson, David Thoreau, and William Blake to name but a few.

Jean Dutourd From "Pluche or the Love of Art"

For me the following passage rings very true. It's is from the opening page of the book - Pluche or the Love of Art by Jean Dutourd. It's funny to me that sometimes I find the best books in the oddest of places for next to nothing; this was one of those times. It's a superb philosophical novel about a painter living in Paris, and also a general story of every type of artist, musician, writer, etc., whether they be French, American, or whatever.

"The smells of linseed oil and turpentine were stirring my blood, like those of moist earth or horse dung. I had lighted my pipe. I still needed some aroma. I made coffee. In short, all the conditions proper for a good day's work. Result: I never applied one stroke of color. My drawing wasn't worth two pins. I had believed myself to be filled with inspiration, but inspiration, as it came out of me, went up in smoke."

(Jean Dutourd, Pluche or The Love of Art, trans. Robin Chancellor)

To me, the book is a statement on what it means to be an artist in a classical but also more modern sense. The struggle to stay true to one's own self in the creation of your art, especially in the wake of a more modern age. Truly a treasure; I found the book in one of those pay $5 and fill up your box with books, super-sales.

Teilhard de Chardin On the Role of Art in Evolution

Leonard Shlain uses this quote in his book Art & Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time and Light. It's a really interesting book on a lot of different levels, the thread being, tying the work of the artist and physicist together.

"In short, art represents the area of furthest advance around man's growing energy, the area in which nascent truths condense, take on their first form, and become animate, before they are definitively formulated and assimilated. This is the effective function and role of art in the general economy of evolution."

(Teilhard de Chardin, Toward the Future, trans. Rene' Hague pp. 90-91. Art & Physics pp.387 -388.)

The preceding quote, from the chapter titled I/We is discussing universal mind, the fourth dimension, and the role that artists play in understanding the weave that ties these things together. This idea ties in heavily with this post: Jung on the role of the artist. Artists mold the unconconcious, dream/mythos, unexpressed needs, whatever you want to call it, of culture and bring those ideas and images, words, music etc., into the physical world of expression.

Alex Grey on Themes of His Work

Some would call Alex Grey the most important artist alive today. To quickly summarize his painting, (check out his website, it's awesome: Alex Grey.com), I would say he illustrates spiritual dimensions. I find his art very conceptual, but at the same time very real and down to earth, he's not completely inventing anything, he's revealing the nature of reality to his audience.

"Pointing to those subtle and casual dimensions beyond the physical is part of the purpose of my work. Interweaving the dimensions together - physical, emotional, conceptual, psychic, subtle, and spiritual has been part of my intention, my mission of art, always with the hope that it resonates with people and affirms their own deeper understanding of themselves and the world."

(Alex Grey, Transfigurations, p. 106.)

He's painting realistically and symbolically the concept and reality of spiritual and physical dimensions, which of course is an amazing thing. It's interesting to me the contrast between his paintings and those of Mark Rothko for example, both spiritual and pointing to the same things, just in two entirely different ways. If you haven't purchased an Alex Grey book, you absolutely should, see the link to his website at the top.

Artists are the Molders of the Unconscious

Easily one of the greatest minds of the 20th century and one of my great heroes, C.G. Jung's approach to understanding life and spirituality is one of the biggest influences of my life, this is one of my favorite quotes from Jung:

"The artist is not a person endowed with free will who seeks his own ends, but one who allows art to realize its purposes through him. As a human being he may have moods and a will and personal aims, but as an artist he is 'man' in a higher sense - he is 'collective man,' a vehicle and molder of the unconscious psychic life of mankind."

(Carl Jung, Psychology and Literature, 1930)

I think an important word to look at in the preceding quote is 'vehicle'. Jung says the artist is not only a molder of the unconscious of mankind, but a vehicle for it as well. (Check out this website: The Dream Oracle by Dr. Hearne I found by Googling the phrase "vehicle for unconscious of mankind" it's very fascinating.)


Sometimes you might hear about this idea about artists, poets, musicians, and creative people in general, that they are more sensitive or too sensitive. Although stereotyping anyone for any reason isn't good practice, this idea isn't entirely untrue as a generalization about creative people. Anyways before I get sidetracked, my point is that this hyper-sensitivity attributed to some artists is validation for Jung's assertion that artists are, "molders of the unconscious psychic life of mankind."