Exhibition catalogue published in conjunction with show held November 23, 1986 - March 8, 1987. Traveled to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, April 17, - July 19, 1987; to the Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, September 1 - November 22, 1987.

THE SPIRITUAL IN ART :
ABSTRACT PAINTING 1890-1985

FOREWORD

The great epoch of the Spiritual which is already beginning,
or, in embryonic form, began already yesterday. .
provides and will provide the in which a kind of
monumental work of art must come to fruition

Wassily Kandinsky's words, written in 1910-11,
prophesied the breadth and ambition of the
artists whose careers are explored in this exhibition,

The Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting 1890-1985.
Countless generations of artists have been intrigued
by the mysteries offered by spiritual writings and
belief systems. In the 1890s interest in the
occult and mysticism fused with the genesis
of abstract painting, then in its "embryonic
form." Kandinsky in Germany, František
Kupka first in Czechoslovakia and later in
France, Kazimir Malevich and others of his
circle in Russia, and Piet Mondrian in the
Netherlands created a purc abstract vision that
embodied their in volvement with esoteric
thought. Their legacy was spread by many of
their contemporaries to subsequent generations
of artists who found new means to unite
abstraction with mystical concepts, thereby
creating meaningful images, a fact that has
largely been overlooked in much of the
scholarship devoted to this period. This
exhibition, in its international scope
and conception, focuses on this issue.

As the inaugural exhibition in our new Robert
O. Anderson Building, The Spiritual in Art:
Abstract Painting 1890-1985 signals the
ongoing commitment of the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art to presenting innovative and...

Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting 1890 - 1985

by Maurice Tuchman

About this title: Almost one hundred years ago, artists began eliminating the familiar visible world from their paintings. Abstraction enabled artists to embody their ideas in paintings, many of which concerned the spiritual, including references to popular belief systems such as Theosophy and Rosicrucianism. Yet as the 20th-century progressed, those unfashionable beliefs were ignored as art criticism focused on the way a painting looked rather than what an artist had intended it to mean. Much was lost as a result, and it is this missing content that "The Spiritual in Art" aims to restore. This book, now available in paperback, challenges current assumptions about abstraction, from the Symbolism that prefigured abstract art to the current manifestations of spiritual content in American and European painting. Special attention is paid to the pioneers of non-representational art - Wassily Kandinsky, Frantisek Kupka, Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian - and to other masters, such as Jean Arp and Jackson Pollock, whose connections with the spiritual have been largely overlooked. This presentation of new and rediscovered ideas should have an impact on art scholarship.

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.