Wassily Kandinsky and Russian Religious Philosophy of his Time

Abstract

The article examines the creative biography and creative manifestos of the artist V. V. Kandinsky (primarily, “On Spiritual Art,” “Steps. The Artist's Text”) in the context of the “new religious consciousness” and the idea of the “Third Testament.” It is shown that his artistic and aesthetic views are in line with the religious consciousness of Russian Art Nouveau. It notes the common spiritual and initiatory experience of Kandinsky and S. N. Bulgakov, with whom he was a classmate of A. I. Chuprov at the Department of Political Economy and Statistics at Moscow University, intuitions associated with a similar perception of time and perspective in Kandinsky and priest P. A. Florensky, with whom they worked together at VKHUTEMAS, Kandinsky's ideas about truth and reality, which resonate with the ideas of S. L. Frank. Kandinsky's ideas about design and composition, which could have influenced Florensky, are considered.