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 universal being, a cosmic being, a divine being.
The artist must be a symbol, a metaphor, an allegory.
The artist must be a mirror, a reflection, an echo.
The artist must be a voice, a sound, a melody.
The artist must be a light, a flame, a spark.
The artist must be a path, a road, a journey.
The artist must be a door, a gate, an entrance.
The artist must be a key, a lock, an opening.
The artist must be a secret, a mystery, a riddle.
The artist must be a question, an answer, a solution.
The artist must be a beginning, an end, a continuation.
The artist must be a circle, a square, a triangle.
The point is the smallest, most concentrated form.
The line is the trace of a moving point.
The plane is the surface on which the point and line exist.
Every phenomenon can be experienced in two ways: externally and internally.
The inner sound of a form is its spiritual content.
The artist's task is to create a language of forms that speaks to the soul.
The work of art is a cosmos, a living organism.
There is no 'must' in art because art is free.
Contemporaries of Wassily Kandinsky
Other Visual Artss born within 50 years of Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944).