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 line is the trace of the moving point.
The plane is the surface on which the point, line, and ultimately the painting exist.
The artist's hand, which by the way of the eye, touches the soul of man.
I saw that the colors themselves developed a tremendous power.
The object is not the most important thing, but the inner sound.
The breaking of the object was the first step towards abstraction.
I dissolved the objects, for to do so would damage the picture.
The spiritual in art is a necessity.
Art is a language that speaks to the soul.
The artist's task is to penetrate the surface and reveal the inner meaning.
Abstraction is not the absence of reality, but a different way of seeing it.
Every color has a spiritual vibration.
The inner necessity is the only true guide for the artist.
Art is a means of spiritual expression.
The artist is a prophet, revealing the future through his work.
The artist must be free to express his inner world.
The creation of a work of art is the creation of the world.
The artist is a creator, not an imitator.
The spiritual in art is the most important element.
Art is a universal language.
Contemporaries of Wassily Kandinsky
Other Visual Artss born within 50 years of Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944).