In this famous work by a pioneer in the movement to free art from the bonds of tradition — a work long considered essential to understanding the evolution of 20th-century art — Kandinsky explores the role of the line, point, and other key elements of non-objective painting. 127 illustrations.
Point and Line to Plane (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)
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Text: English, German (translation)
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51 of 54 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Reading this book is like entering the sanctum sanctorum of mark making. It is a first class journey through the thought processes of a major 20th century innovator as he introduces, evaluates and places in relationship the elements of drawing and composition. While not for the faint of heart, Kandinsky writes with such endearing specificity about the exact function of each component (point, line, plane) the marks take on lives of their own. His simultaneous portrayal of the function of marks through words and the distillation of words through marks offers insights into the creative process for artists at every stage of development. The organization of the material is logical, as expected from a man who started out as a lawyer, as well as magical, coming from a man who ascribed to the spiritual in art. For all its apparent simplicity it is well worth the time to savor in small portions. I particularly like the layers of meaning to be found in his concepts. There is a cascading effect to reading a description, applying the principle to an art process and then revisiting the text to have further meaning reveal itself. He literally views drawing from the inside out.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Kandinsky's goal seems admirable, to create a vocabulary in which abstract visual art can be discussed. That would allow a theory of abstraction to develop, with the promise that art would advance as its theory advanced. He argues his case well, he was trained as a lawyer after all, using analogy to that most abstract of arts: music.
He presents his thoughts in three sections following logical progression: point, line, and plane. As one would expect in discussing visual impression, Kandinsky acknowledges the mathematical point but generalizes it to isolated, self-contained marks of many kinds. Already, in the zero-dimensional world, Kandinsky begins his conceptual whirl: a point is not just a point, but a tension, a temporal presence, and even a sound - though I'm not convinced that this "sound" relates to audible impressons. The point even manifests as a period in punctuation. Its presence and position changes or erases a sentence's meaning; presumably, one is to infer that it has similar meaning in visual compostion.
Moving on to Line, Kandinsky crams a huge number of concepts onto the page: temperature, hue plus white and black, movement and force, angle, sound and triple sound, and even the duality of male/active vs. female/passive. Certainly there is much to discuss in all of these things, but the color, sound, and sex of a specific diagonal angle elude me. They are clear enough to Kandinsky, though, who announces these relations with absolute certainty and inevitability. His writing makes me think of mysteries revealed with papal infallibility, and with internal reason beyond human reasoning. Discussion of Plane drives even deeper into thickets of interlaced concept. I admit that I was never able to hack a clear path for myself through his conceptual undergrowth.
In the end, Kandinsky's vision remains a statement of his own inner experience - not of thinking that could be shared and pushed forward by other minds. Instead of showing the world how to think, he shows the world how he thinks. Although I'm no great fan of his art, that glimpse fascinates me, and is reason enough for reading and experiencing this remarkable text.
-- wiredweird
He presents his thoughts in three sections following logical progression: point, line, and plane. As one would expect in discussing visual impression, Kandinsky acknowledges the mathematical point but generalizes it to isolated, self-contained marks of many kinds. Already, in the zero-dimensional world, Kandinsky begins his conceptual whirl: a point is not just a point, but a tension, a temporal presence, and even a sound - though I'm not convinced that this "sound" relates to audible impressons. The point even manifests as a period in punctuation. Its presence and position changes or erases a sentence's meaning; presumably, one is to infer that it has similar meaning in visual compostion.
Moving on to Line, Kandinsky crams a huge number of concepts onto the page: temperature, hue plus white and black, movement and force, angle, sound and triple sound, and even the duality of male/active vs. female/passive. Certainly there is much to discuss in all of these things, but the color, sound, and sex of a specific diagonal angle elude me. They are clear enough to Kandinsky, though, who announces these relations with absolute certainty and inevitability. His writing makes me think of mysteries revealed with papal infallibility, and with internal reason beyond human reasoning. Discussion of Plane drives even deeper into thickets of interlaced concept. I admit that I was never able to hack a clear path for myself through his conceptual undergrowth.
In the end, Kandinsky's vision remains a statement of his own inner experience - not of thinking that could be shared and pushed forward by other minds. Instead of showing the world how to think, he shows the world how he thinks. Although I'm no great fan of his art, that glimpse fascinates me, and is reason enough for reading and experiencing this remarkable text.
-- wiredweird
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I think this book is useful for understanding Kandinsky's art but I think it is most useful for artists trying to form their own ideas about art. The reason for this is that in ascribing characteristics to many aspects of art for example lines curves and planes, the author makes us as artists think about how we use these aspects of art in our work. So, in other words, he gets you thinking about the meaning of all those marks on paper we make. I think most artists will find their own explanations of the various types of line, curve, color and plane, what this book does is give you the idea for doing so in the first place.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required reading
One of the best foundations for teaching visual ideas in all of art history. Kandinsky wrote as beautifully as he painted.
Published 2 months ago by Artist Bill
4.0 out of 5 stars
Completely unintelligible, but still...
Kandinsky is by far my favorite painter and he has influenced my painting so I had to buy this book. Read more
Published 19 months ago by jayday
5.0 out of 5 stars
A manual of design philosophy for the serious artist or designer...
This is a wonderful book for advanced students and practitioners of art and design. It was, along with Kandinsky's other book, "Concerning the Spiritual in Art", one of the... Read more
Published on February 28, 2010 by Tulpen Bee
2.0 out of 5 stars
Has no pictures of artwork
I purchased this as a gift to someone who enjoys looking at kadinsky's works.
This book is all diagrams and geometric line drawings, complicated looking and written like a... Read more
This book is all diagrams and geometric line drawings, complicated looking and written like a... Read more
Published on February 22, 2010 by T Kaz
1.0 out of 5 stars
Point and Line to Plane review
I got this book brand new and must say that it is poorly written and very hard to understand. This may be alright for individuals who are familiar with thier field, but if you are... Read more
Published on December 5, 2009 by Stacy A. Hummel
5.0 out of 5 stars
EXCELLENT SERVICE.
This item was received in a very timely , and in excellent condition.
Published on January 26, 2007 by Scott K. Brigham
5.0 out of 5 stars
indispensable
Este libro se ha convertido en el indispensable para los estudiantes de artes plásticas, nos define el punto, la linea y el plano desde muchos puntos de vista además... Read more
Published on January 13, 2004 by Alyda
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