From Science to Systems of Art

Russian painters and poets ? Kandinsky in 1912 and Malevich in 1915, Klebnikov, then kruchenykh and others from 1912 ? recognised that the artistic language of colour, form and movement, and the poetic sound of letter and word, had an inner content whose meaning could be expressed in those elements alone. The development of abstraction in Russian art and language was a direct result of this new consciousness. In this publication we see how the teachings of Heinrich Wolfflin influenced the thoughts and processes of these key artists, resulting in new and radical approaches to theory of art and literary history. Essays concerning these new thoughts and ideas by Kandinsky, Malevich, Klebnikov and Kruchenykh amongst others, are analysed within their historical context and an understanding is given as to their continuing importance to today?s art studies.