The Spiritual in Art: Beyond the Visible
Kandinsky’s vision of art as a spiritual force, as described in Concerning the Spiritual in Art, presents color, form, and abstraction as tools to reach beyond the visible and awaken the inner life, showing how art can serve as a bridge to the spiritual realm.
by le imposter atelier
9/15/20251 min read
The Spiritual in Art: Beyond the Visible
When Wassily Kandinsky published Concerning the Spiritual in Art in 1911, he wasn’t simply writing about painting techniques—he was making a case for art as a vital force in human evolution. For Kandinsky, the true task of the artist was not to copy the visible world but to reveal the invisible. Like music, colors carry vibrations; forms have resonance. The artist, then, is more than a technician: they become a kind of spiritual channel, receiving and translating messages that reach beyond the ego and into realms of imagination they did not know they could touch.
The idea feels radical even today. In the modern world, art is too often linked to luxury, status, or fashion, something decorative, entertaining, or reserved for those with means. It is treated as optional, a pleasant addition rather than a necessity. Kandinsky pushed firmly against this view. He insisted that art was urgent, a spiritual need. Just as music bypasses the intellect and stirs us directly, painting, through abstract elements of line, shape, and color, can awaken parts of us that language alone cannot reach.
At the heart of his vision lies a spiritual hierarchy. Some works remain on the surface, appealing only to the senses, while others rise upward, capable of transforming consciousness. The artist’s role is not only to innovate but to attune: to listen for inner necessity and give it form. In this sense, art becomes a spiritual exercise—one that elevates both creator and viewer.
Kandinsky wrote in dialogue with the spiritual movements of his time, from Theosophy to Anthroposophy, yet the questions he raised remain pressing. Can art still lead us inward, beyond materialism and spectacle? Can it remind us of our own depth, our unseen layers?
To read Concerning the Spiritual in Art is to be reminded that art at its highest level is not about representation—it is about revelation. It asks us to look not only outward at the world, but inward, toward the hidden currents that shape our inner lives.
