Concerning the Spiritual in Art and Painting in Particular [An Updated Version of the Sadleir Translation]

2014 Reprint of 1947 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. An updated version of the Sadleir translation, with considerable re-translation by Francis Golffing, Michael Harrison and Ferdinand Ostertag. Published in 1912, Kandinsky's book defines three types of painting; impressions, improvisations and compositions. While impressions are based on an external reality that serves as a starting point, improvisations and compositions depict images emergent from the unconscious, though composition is developed from a more formal point of view. Kandinsky compares the spiritual life of humanity to a pyramid-the artist has a mission to lead others to the pinnacle with his work. The point of the pyramid is occupied by few great artists. It is a spiritual pyramid, advancing and ascending slowly even if it sometimes appears immobile. During decadent periods, the soul sinks to the bottom of the pyramid; humanity searches only for external success, ignoring spiritual forces. This edition contains a new introduction by Nina Kandinsky, his widow, providing Kandinsky's own corrections and additions for a new edition that never appeared in his lifetime. She has also written for this edition a memoir of Kandinsky's development.