A seminal text in the history of modern art from one of the most famous artists of the twentieth centuryArt is the language that speaks to the soulWhy do we make art In Concerning the Spiritual in Art Wassily Kandinsky one of the earliest and most famous abstract painters argued against art for arts sake. Exploring form and colour spirituality and tradition Kandinsky instead predicted a future for painting in its potential to redirect the attention of viewers away from the shallow materialism of the modern world toward the more profound intellectual and emotional concerns of their interior lives. His revolutionary work became a landmark in modern art history helping to usher in the age of nonrepresentational painting.