Art of Spiritual Harmony

The Art of Spiritual Harmony by Wassily Kandinsky, translated by MTH Sadler, 112 pages

One of the foremost artists of the twentieth century, Wassily Kandinsky played a major role in the development of abstract painting in both his native Russia and in Germany, where he spent his most productive years and founded the Blaue Reiter school.  This short work contains Kandinsky's exposition of his thoughts on art in general and his method in particular.

Disdaining the merely material, Kandinsky embraces a Romantic spiritual heroism akin to that of Stephen Dedalus.  He seeks for painting the freedom from nature that the Romantics associated with music, the freedom to bring forth the vision of a semi-divine, Tolstoian inner self.  Unfortunately, this inner self opens upon the abyss.  Kandinsky's ideas are to art what Madame Blavatsky was to religion, his "pyramid to heaven" ultimately a tower of Babel.

Brillant History of Color in Art

Brillant History of Color in Art by Victoria Finlay
120 Pages


"The history of art is inseparable from the history of colour. This book takes readers across the globe and over the centuries on a tour through the history of color in art. It aims to uncover the origins and science of colour. It is illustrated in full colour throughout with 166 major works of art."

The book is set up to travel through time as artists and civilizations discover new colors and ways to create colors.  Each color has examples of the use of it in a piece of art, sometimes more and facts about how it was created, problems with the use of that color and other historical tidbits.  Definitely interesting to read.