With cold eyes and indifferent mind the spectators regard the work. Connoissers admire the "skill" (as one admires a tightrope walker), enjoy the "quality of painting" (as one enjoys a pasty). But hungry souls go hungry away. The vulgar herd stroll through the rooms and pronounce the pictures "nice" or "splendid." Those who could speak have said nothing, those who could hear have heard nothing.
Interpretation
The quote critiques how art is often viewed superficially, lacking true appreciation by the masses and critics alike.
Wassily Kandinsky's quote reflects on the varying levels of engagement with art, highlighting how most spectators approach it with indifference and a lack of depth. The superficial admiration of art—whether by connoisseurs valuing technical skill or the general public offering banal compliments—leaves the 'hungry souls', those seeking profound connection and experience, dissatisfied. Kandinsky suggests that true art appreciation requires a deeper, more emotional engagement that transcends mere visual pleasure or technical prowess.
In practice
Using this quote in an art critique to emphasize the importance of deep emotional engagement with artwork.
The true work of art is born from the 'artist': a mysterious, enigmatic, and mystical creation. It detaches itself from him, it acquires an autonomous life, becomes a personality, an independent subject, animated with a spiritual breath, the living subject of a real existence of being.
The artist must have something to say, for mastery over form is not his goal but rather the adapting of form to its inner meaning.
The sound of colors is so definite that it would be hard to find anyone who would express bright yellow with bass notes or dark lake with treble.
The more abstract is form, the more clear and direct its appeal.
All methods are sacred if they are internally necessary. All methods are sins if they are not justified by internal necessity.
Every man who steeps himself in the spiritual possibilities of his heart is a valuable helper in the building of the spiritual pyramid which will someday reach to heaven.
Talents of the novelist: ... observation of character, analysis of emotion, people's feelings, personal relations.
As for the usefulness of poetry, its uses are many. It is the deification of reality.
Every poem is a momentary stay against the confusion of the world.
I make my films because I'm affected by a situation, by something that makes me want to reflect on it, that lends itself to an artistic reflection. I always aim to look directly at what I'm dealing with. I think it's a task of dramatic art to confront us with things that in the entertainment industry are usually swept under the rug.
I realized with Broadway everything written for black people is usually written in the past, and I'm kind of a contemporary guy. I don't think you want to see me in 'Raisin in the Sun'.
There is an urgent need for Americans to look deeply into themselves and their actions, and musical poetry is perhaps the most effective mirror available. Every newspaper headline is a potential song.
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