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 be a lover of beauty, a seeker of truth, a worshipper of God.
The artist must be a child, a dreamer, a poet.
The artist must be a philosopher, a scientist, a mystic.
The artist must be a human being, a man, a woman.
The artist must be a solitary, a hermit, a recluse.
The artist must be a wanderer, a pilgrim, a traveler.
The artist must be a warrior, a fighter, a champion.
The artist must be a hero, a martyr, a saint.
The artist must be a god, a creator, a destroyer.
Lend your ears to music, open your eyes to painting, and... stop thinking! It will come to you of its own accord.
Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings.
The sound of colors is so definite that it would be hard to find anyone who would try to play, for instance, the opening bars of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in F minor instead of C minor.
The more abstract is form, the more clear and direct its appeal.
Everything starts with color.
The spirit, like the body, can be strengthened and developed by frequent exercise.
An empty form is much more difficult to deal with than a full form.
The observer must learn to look at the picture as a graphic representation of a mood and not as a representation of objects.
Generally speaking, color is a power which directly influences the soul.
The harmony of colors is a spiritual harmony.
Composition must be simple and clear in all its parts.
Contemporaries of Wassily Kandinsky
Other Visual Artss born within 50 years of Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944).