Abstract beginnings: A pivotal portfolio in the history of art Over the course of his artistic career, Wassily Kandinsky (1866 1944)transformed not only his own style, but the course of art history. From early figurative and landscape painting, he went on to pioneer aspiritual, emotive, rhythmic use of color and lineand is today credited with creatingthe first purely abstract work.As much a teacher and theorist as he was a practicing artist, Kandinsky's interests in music, theater, poetry, philosophy, ethnology, myth, and the occult, were all essential components to his painting and engraving. He was involved with both the influentialBlaue ReiterandBauhausgroups and left a legacy not only of dazzling visual work, but also of highly influential treatises such asConcerning the Spiritual In Art. Key tenets included theconnections between painting, musicand mystical experience, and the purification of art away from material realism and towards anemotional expression, condensed in particular by color.This book presents key Kandinsky works to introduce his repertoire of vivid colors, forms, and feelings. Tracing the artist's radical stylistic development, it shows how one painter's progression paved the way for generations of abstract expression to come. About the Series: Each book in TASCHEN s Basic Art series features: a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance a concise biography approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions "