(1908-1914), which encompasses the Murnau and Blaue Reiter phases, are not considered here. Kandinsky had been noting down his ideas on art from time to time" since 1901 and they were the ideas that were brought together in On the Spiritual in Art. The ideas on color and individual expression were developed in conjunction with the vivid work of his Blaue Reiter period, but this review will be limited to his abstract works of the last three periods. These were the period of the first abstract styles which share what might be called organic forms (Munich, 1910-1914, and Russia, 1914-1921), the Bauhaus period with its new interest in clear lines, geometric shapes and sharp angles (1922-1944), and the last years in Paris when the paintings featured a combination of organic and geometric forms (1933-1944).
Kandinsky perpetually found himself in the midst of wars and revolutions, as did most Europeans in the first half of this century. But he had the opportunity to work steadily and his feelings about the world, and this century in particular, played an important role in his conception of art and the artist. Kandinsky painted in several ways in the 1910-1914 period and his progress can best be understood as "a multi-leveled attempt to solve one overwhelming problem." He moved two steps forward and one back, but he always moved toward complete abstraction in the paintings.
The thoughts presented in On the Spiritual in Art were developed in the years leading up to his first non-objective works. At the heart of the theory was the idea of "internal necessity" which was, he maintained, made up of three "mystical necessities." The first of these was the necessity for the artist to express whatever was "peculiar to himself." The second was the necessity of the artist's expressing what was unique about his own time. Once the artist has penetrated these two elements with his "spiritual eye" the third necessity is revealed -- the...