Which Russian artist wrote the 1911 book Concerning the Spiritual in Art?

Wassily Kandinsky wrote the 1911 book Concerning the Spiritual in Art. The Russian painter and theorist published it in German as Über das Geistige in der Kunst, and it became one of the foundational texts of modern abstract art.

Kandinsky argued that art should communicate inner, spiritual experience rather than merely imitate the visible world. He compared colors and shapes to sounds in music, suggesting that different combinations could produce emotional and psychological effects. His ideas helped explain why nonrepresentational art could still carry meaning.

The book appeared during a period of intense artistic experimentation in Europe. Kandinsky was especially interested in the expressive power of color and believed artists should follow an inner necessity rather than satisfy popular taste. Readers sometimes confuse him with Kazimir Malevich, another Russian pioneer of abstraction, but Malevich developed Suprematism later, while Kandinsky’s book articulated his own spiritual theory of art.