Kandinsky and the Spiritual in Abstract Art

Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian-born painter, printmaker and theorist, was one of the pioneers of Abstract art. Kandinsky lectured and wrote extensively in support of non- objective art, believing that total abstraction offered the possibility for profound spiritual expression. His paintings of 1913 are considered to be among the first completely abstract compositions in modern art history, as they made no reference to the natural world and were inspired by (and took their titles from) pieces of music. His nonrepresentational paintings paved the way for the development of the Abstract Expressionist movement that dominated American painting after World War II.