---
product_id: 225654
title: "Concerning the Spiritual in Art"
price: "R208"
currency: ZAR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 13
url: https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/225654-concerning-the-spiritual-in-art
store_origin: ZA
region: South Africa
---

# Concerning the Spiritual in Art

**Price:** R208
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## Description

Concerning the Spiritual in Art [Wassily Kandinsky, M. T. H. Sadler] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Concerning the Spiritual in Art

Review: A must read for the artist of any medium - Take your time reading. If overwhelmed by the information, reread the last paragraph you read then put the book down. Mediate on those last read words. Simply think of that kernel of truth. Go on with your day or continue to read after digesting what you read. Don’t rush. The book has been in print longer than we have drawn breath. Enjoy the ideas, notice them in other media you see. Compare and contrast. Look up the artists he mentions if you aren’t familiar. This is a book to keep and go back to periodically. A treasure. The information, for the most part, has not dated itself out of usefulness. Quite the opposite. But keep in mind when it was written, the earliest part of last century. Abstract art isn’t the same art he witnessed or created. It is far more beautiful now than he probably ever thought it could be.
Review: Kandinsky: Chaos, Order, and Meaning - I’ll have to say I feel like I have only gleaned the surface of Kandinsky’s meaning relative to the spiritual in art. What follows are some key themes that spoke to me: Art offers revolutionary possibility and is the sphere turned to in time of societal stress, breakdown, and chaos. “When religion, science and morality are shaken. . . . when the outer supports threaten to fall, man turns his gaze from externals in on to himself. Literature, music and art are the first and most sensitive spheres in which this spiritual revolution makes itself felt” (p. 25). Artists and their art connects humans to a deeper or transcendent meaning. “To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts – such is the duty of the artist” (citing Schumann, p. 16). “No other power can take the place of art. . . at times when the human soul is gaining greater strength, art will grow in power, the two are inextricably connected” (p. 63). Art communicates – without the use of words. I’m increasingly tired of the primacy of words and speech acts as the preferred communication method – particularly when the rhetoric is 2D, hateful, and divisive. “At different points along the road are the different arts, saying what they are best able to say, and in the language (emphasis mine) which is peculiarly their own” (p. 31). One’s hermeneutic must move beyond impression or observation (what the art is, what it depicts, or its specific configuration or construction) to an allowance for the art to communicate its meaning. “Our materialistic age has produced a type of spectator or ‘connoisseur,’ who is not content to put himself opposite a picture and let it say its own message. Instead of allowing the inner value of the picture to work. . . . his eye does not probe the outer expression to arrive at the inner meaning” (p. 58). Kandinsky's Spiritual Triangle represents a societal and personal progression from solely material to spiritual concerns where the primary movement is influenced by artists and their work. “Painting is an art, and art is not vague production, transitory and isolated, but a power which be directed to the improvement and refinement of the human soul – to, in fact, the raising of the spiritual triangle” (p. 62). My curiosity about this notion of 'spiritual in art' arises from a bias that there's something about aesthetic experience that facilitates a moment where humans transcend individual interest solely captivated by the awe or beauty of the experience of art, music, theater, dance, etc. andinsky's work provides a framework via the triangle to understand art and artist's importance beyond the material toward meaning, purpose and transcendence. I realize in using the word transcendence I'm not defining it - this too is a term I want to learn more about. Reading Kandinsky is but a starting point in this exploration - finally, this work was written early in Kandinsky's career - it would be good to read more of his ideas to further clarify definition and meaning of key constructs: spiritual, sacred, inner meaning, and inner need, for examples. This would be a good read for those interested in art history, spirituality, aesthetics, and experience. I can imagine those interested in place design also benefiting from this book especially Kandinsky's discussion of color. Note: My review is based on 2010 version

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #27,038 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #21 in Arts & Photography Criticism #42 in Art History (Books) #1,061 in Classic Literature & Fiction |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (740) |
| Dimensions  | 5.43 x 0.2 x 8.54 inches |
| Edition  | Revised |
| ISBN-10  | 0486234118 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0486234113 |
| Item Weight  | 2.31 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Part of series  | Dover Fine Art, History of Art |
| Print length  | 96 pages |
| Publication date  | June 1, 1977 |
| Publisher  | Dover Publications |

## Images

![Concerning the Spiritual in Art - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31lUJmx9dvL.jpg)
![Concerning the Spiritual in Art - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31tN2qIO5KL.jpg)
![Concerning the Spiritual in Art - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41WQxVwKDiL.jpg)
![Concerning the Spiritual in Art - Image 4](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41q0mpVil5L.jpg)
![Concerning the Spiritual in Art - Image 5](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51HzM5WuHKL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A must read for the artist of any medium
*by M***N on January 28, 2025*

Take your time reading. If overwhelmed by the information, reread the last paragraph you read then put the book down. Mediate on those last read words. Simply think of that kernel of truth. Go on with your day or continue to read after digesting what you read. Don’t rush. The book has been in print longer than we have drawn breath. Enjoy the ideas, notice them in other media you see. Compare and contrast. Look up the artists he mentions if you aren’t familiar. This is a book to keep and go back to periodically. A treasure. The information, for the most part, has not dated itself out of usefulness. Quite the opposite. But keep in mind when it was written, the earliest part of last century. Abstract art isn’t the same art he witnessed or created. It is far more beautiful now than he probably ever thought it could be.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Kandinsky: Chaos, Order, and Meaning
*by A***N on December 3, 2015*

I’ll have to say I feel like I have only gleaned the surface of Kandinsky’s meaning relative to the spiritual in art. What follows are some key themes that spoke to me: Art offers revolutionary possibility and is the sphere turned to in time of societal stress, breakdown, and chaos. “When religion, science and morality are shaken. . . . when the outer supports threaten to fall, man turns his gaze from externals in on to himself. Literature, music and art are the first and most sensitive spheres in which this spiritual revolution makes itself felt” (p. 25). Artists and their art connects humans to a deeper or transcendent meaning. “To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts – such is the duty of the artist” (citing Schumann, p. 16). “No other power can take the place of art. . . at times when the human soul is gaining greater strength, art will grow in power, the two are inextricably connected” (p. 63). Art communicates – without the use of words. I’m increasingly tired of the primacy of words and speech acts as the preferred communication method – particularly when the rhetoric is 2D, hateful, and divisive. “At different points along the road are the different arts, saying what they are best able to say, and in the language (emphasis mine) which is peculiarly their own” (p. 31). One’s hermeneutic must move beyond impression or observation (what the art is, what it depicts, or its specific configuration or construction) to an allowance for the art to communicate its meaning. “Our materialistic age has produced a type of spectator or ‘connoisseur,’ who is not content to put himself opposite a picture and let it say its own message. Instead of allowing the inner value of the picture to work. . . . his eye does not probe the outer expression to arrive at the inner meaning” (p. 58). Kandinsky's Spiritual Triangle represents a societal and personal progression from solely material to spiritual concerns where the primary movement is influenced by artists and their work. “Painting is an art, and art is not vague production, transitory and isolated, but a power which be directed to the improvement and refinement of the human soul – to, in fact, the raising of the spiritual triangle” (p. 62). My curiosity about this notion of 'spiritual in art' arises from a bias that there's something about aesthetic experience that facilitates a moment where humans transcend individual interest solely captivated by the awe or beauty of the experience of art, music, theater, dance, etc. andinsky's work provides a framework via the triangle to understand art and artist's importance beyond the material toward meaning, purpose and transcendence. I realize in using the word transcendence I'm not defining it - this too is a term I want to learn more about. Reading Kandinsky is but a starting point in this exploration - finally, this work was written early in Kandinsky's career - it would be good to read more of his ideas to further clarify definition and meaning of key constructs: spiritual, sacred, inner meaning, and inner need, for examples. This would be a good read for those interested in art history, spirituality, aesthetics, and experience. I can imagine those interested in place design also benefiting from this book especially Kandinsky's discussion of color. Note: My review is based on 2010 version

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ great depth though difficult read
*by A***R on July 7, 2025*

Would be happy to read it again and again to grasp the essence of ideas from Kandinsky, the master of abstract.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Concerning the Spiritual in Art
- Ways of Seeing: Based on the BBC Television Series (Penguin Books for Art)
- Point and Line to Plane (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)

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*Product available on Desertcart South Africa*
*Store origin: ZA*
*Last updated: 2026-02-25*