KANDINSKY - Concerning the Spiritual in Art - all about color (Part II)

...the previous post is actually the beginning of this article on Kandinsky and color...

Another theory of Kandinsky's...that colors have an effect on all of the senses...sight, taste, smell...and that they work in harmony with each other...he even mentions the sound of the colors as being very definite and distinct...and that chromotherapy...colored light can exercise very definite influences on the whole body...sighting attempts that have been made with different colors in the treatment of various nervous ailments...this sounds very much like chakras to me...that red light excites the heart, while blue light can cause temporary paralysis...Unfortunately, when tried on plants and animals, the results are not the same...a mystery indeed...but he repeats that color can exercise enormous influence over the body as a physical organism...

In all of this, I am so impressed that Kandinsky is searcing and theorizing over things seldom considered by the artist...or at least that are not spoken of frequently...color and its effects on body and soul...he persisted in going deeper to find the deepest meaning in art and all of its elements for all of us...

He put it so eloquently as he spoke of the association of music and color..."Generally speaking, colour is a power which directly influences the soul. Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul. It is evident therefore that colour harmony must rely only on a corresponding vibration in the human soul; and this is one of the guiding principles of the inner need."