Abstract
In Concerning the Spiritual in Art (1911) and other writings, the artist Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) pursues several guiding questions concerning the spiritual aspects of art. For example: What is the relationship between art and spirituality? How does a work of art express spiritual ideas and themes? And would it be helpful to think of the artist as a kind of visionary or a spiritual seer? In this article, I reconstruct Kandinsky's theory of art and I clarify his understanding of what spirituality is. Then I return to the three guiding questions listed above to consider the relationship between art and spirituality in the light of Kandinsky's views. I argue that both Kandinsky's writings and his paintings help to illuminate the spiritual dimension of art, and his pioneering text, Concerning the Spiritual in Art, remains an important starting-point for reflections on this theme.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 26-49 |
Number of pages | 24 |
Journal | Religion and the Arts |
Volume | 23 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2019 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Cultural Studies
- Visual Arts and Performing Arts
- History
- Religious studies