Wassily Kandinsky
Pioneer of abstract art
Most quoted
"The artist must be blind to 'recognized' or 'unrecognized' form, deaf to the teachings of his time or the desires of his public. His open eyes must be directed to his inner life and his ears to the voice of inner necessity. Then he will seize all the means of expression from the outer world."
— from Concerning the Spiritual in Art, 1911
"The true work of art is born from the 'artist': a mysterious, enigmatic, and mystical creation. It detaches itself from him, it acquires an autonomous life, becomes a personality, an independent subject, animated with a spiritual breath, the living subject of a real existence of being."
— from Concerning the Spiritual in Art, 1911
"The true work of art is born from the 'artist': a mysterious, enigmatic, and mystical creation. It detaches itself from him, it acquires an autonomous life, becomes a personality, an independent spiritual subject, an animate being that lives, breathes, and has a real existence."
— from Concerning the Spiritual in Art, 1911
All quotes by Wassily Kandinsky (342)
The artist must create a new world, not merely imitate the old one.
The spiritual life, to which art belongs and of which it is one of the mightiest elements, is a complicated but definite and easily definable movement forward and upward.
The artist is a king who rules over his own kingdom.
The more abstract the work, the more it speaks to the soul.
The work of art is a living being, which has its own life and its own laws.
The spiritual in art is the most important thing.
The artist must be a seeker of truth, not a purveyor of falsehood.
The language of art is universal.
The artist must be a creator, not an imitator.
The work of art is a bridge between the visible and the invisible.
The artist must be a visionary, not a realist.
The inner necessity is the only law in art.
The artist must be a poet, not a journalist.
The work of art is a spiritual message.
The artist must be a philosopher, not a craftsman.
The work of art is a living organism.
The artist must be a magician, not a scientist.
The work of art is a revelation.
The artist must be a dreamer, not a pragmatist.
The work of art is a prayer.
Contemporaries of Wassily Kandinsky
Other Visual Artss born within 50 years of Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944).