Concerning the Spiritual in Art [antikvár]

preface to the dover edition Wassily Kandinsky was born in Moscow on December 4, 1866, to a well-to-do, aristocratic family. His father was a successful tea merchant, and his wealth was to support Wassily during many years of study. Raised in the Russian Orthodox faith, Kandinsky maintained these beliefs throughout his entire life except during a short period in his youth. His was a normal childhood, distinguished chiefly by his academic success. Wassily's early schooling was in Odessa in the Crimea, where his family moved in 1871. A frequent visitor to Moscow, he returned there in 1886 to study political economy and law at the university. In 1892 he graduated, and one year later was appointed lecturer in jurisprudence at Moscow University. All indications pointed toward a rewarding academic career when, in 1896, at the age of thirty, Kandinsky turned down a professorship at the University of Dorpat in Estonia and went instead to Munich to study painting. This decision to pursue art full-time had evolved gradually. Kandinsky had always been fascinated by painting and music, and as a child played both the cello and piano. At thirteen or fourteen, he had saved up to buy his first box of oil paints. A sensitive and observant youth, his autobiography records strong reactions to the colors and natural scenes that surrounded him. Art and music, ranging from traditional Russian religious icons and Rembrandt oils to a performance of Wagner's Lohengrin, left profound impressions on him as well. An 1895 Moscow exhibit exposed Kandinsky to the French Impressionists, and his feelings upon seeing Monet's Haystack seemed to predict the destiny that awaited him: "I had the impression that here painting itself comes into the foreground; I wondered if it would not be possible to go further in this direction." The next year he moved to Germany and commenced his