From Point and Line to Plane

Vasily Kandinsky's famous book "Point and Line to Plane," in which the pioneer of abstract art analyzed the language of the basic elements of painting and put forward the theory of forms after his earlier theory of colors, has been published by Arketon in its original language translation. Hüseyin Tüzün translated Kandinsky's book into Turkish, and Aykut Köksal edited it. In his introduction to the book, Köksal states the following:

 "At the beginning of the 20th century, painting, which reached a sharp turning point, turned to its inner reality instead of reproducing the reality of the outer world. The elements offered by inner reality are the main elements that constitute painting: color, stain, point, line, etc. Thus, painting embarked on a new world of meaning, and modernist abstract painting would be the result of this process. It is precisely at this point that we see Kandinsky emerging as an actor with a dual role. On the one hand, he is an artist who pioneered modernist painting with his own production, and on the other hand, he is a thinker who defines the theoretical background of abstract painting.

 In this context, Kandinsky produced two fundamental texts: 'Concerning the Spiritual in Art' from 1912 and 'Point and Line to Plane' from 1926. The first book is about the theory of colors. This book would be followed by the war years, and Kandinsky would move away from his theoretical studies. However, his beginning to work as a teacher at the Bauhaus in 1922 at the invitation of Gropius opened a new chapter in Kandinsky's life. In those years, the Bauhaus was at the center where the theoretical issues of modernism were discussed. Kandinsky found the most suitable environment to develop his theoretical studies, and indeed the most important product of this period was his second published book, 'Point and Line to Plane.' After the theory of colors he dealt with in his first book, the artist this time focused on the theory of forms.

 In this book, Kandinsky starts from the analysis of the main elements of painting such as point, line, and plane, and develops his theory, which deals with the system of relationships between these elements and defines the grammar of abstract painting. The most important feature of his theory is that it is extremely innovative and creative.

 Despite nearly a hundred years having passed since its first publication, Kandinsky's theory of forms continues to hold important clues for understanding modernist art."