Vasily Kandinsky was one of the principal founders of abstract painting, perhaps the most revolutionary development in 20th-century art. In this collection, Messer has selected notable paintings, reproduced as colour plates, from every period of Kandinsky's career. The early years are documented in images such as the mythological Riding Couple from the heroic period of his work. In the years before World War I, he made a breakthrough into highly expressionistic abstract paintings such as Composition VI, often regarded as among his highest achievements. Paintings given by his widow to the Musee National d'Art Moderne in Paris are also included, among them the valedictory Tempered Elan. Kandinsky's contributions to aesthetic theory, developed in his influential treatises on abstract painting - Blue Rider Almanac and On the Spiritual in Art - are discussed in an introductory essay. Documentary photographs of Kandinsky and his associates and supplementary artworks in black and white complete the volume.