The Theosophical teaching on thehuman aura was elaborated byCharles W. Leadbeater andRudolf Steiner in early 1900s.[15][note 4] Both Leadbeater and Steiner stated that "clairvoyants" are gifted of seeing so-called "thought-forms"[18] and "human auras." They have also written that the "impressions" received by such people from the "higher worlds" are similar with the "colour phenomena observed in the physical world."[19][note 5]
Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke pointed out that Annie Besant in collaboration with Leadbeater has also published an "influential book" titledThought-Forms,[22] a record of clairvoyant investigation.[23] The frontispieces of bothThought-Forms andMan Visible and Invisible [it][24] contain a table "The meanings of colours" of thought-forms and human aura associated with feelings and emotions, beginning with "HighSpirituality" (light blue—in the upper left corner) and ending by "Malice" (black—in the lower right corner), 25 colors in all.[25][note 6] According to Besant and Leadbeater, feelings and thoughts shape specific forms, for example, "lightning-like shapes" emerge in connection with "anger"[27] and "malice,"[28] zig-zag lines show fear etc.[29]
Thus, thanks to Besant, with Leadbeater and Steiner, the "Theosophical colourmysticism", asSixten Ringbom has formulated,[30] became a subject in which modern artists have been particularly interested.[note 7] In addition, they were attracted by the Theosophical concept of a "universal harmony underlying the apparent chaos" of the physical world.[3]
Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891) had a developed gift for drawing, "but no pretensions as an artist."[5]Massimo Introvigne wrote that "the first of a long list of Theosophical painters was none other than Madame Blavatsky herself."[33][note 8] Paul Weinzweig spoke about her as "a completely cultured woman in the renaissance ideal." He noted that Blavatsky was a "scientist,poet, pianist, painter,philosopher,writer, educator."[35]
Reginald Willoughby Machell (1854–1927)[40] was educated first atUppingham School, then atOwen's College, having taken "many prizes in drawing and also in the classics." At last, he was sent to study in Paris at theAcadémie Julian. In 1880, he returned to London and worked as a portrait painter. In 1893, he was elected a member of theRoyal Society of British Artists. He created also illustrations to the booksAn Idol's Passion (1895) andThe Chant of a Lonely Soul (1897) by an American novelistIrene Osgood.[41]
In 1887, Machell was introduced to Blavatsky herself by a friend of one of his aunts. In 1888, he joined the Theosophical Society.[42] His paintings began to obtain a mystical andsymbolist character. It may be related with such his works asDweller on the Threshold,[43]The Birth of the Planet, andLead Kindly Light.[40][44] Machell's Theosophical art had its "triumph" inThe Path (1895).[45] He described this painting as follows:
THE PATH is the way by which the humansoul must pass it itsevolution to full spiritualself-consciousness. The supreme condition is suggested in this work by the great figure whose head in the upper triangle is lost in the glory of the Sun above, and whose feet are in the lower triangle in the waters of Space, symbolizingSpirit and Matter. His wings fill the middle region representing the motion or pulsation of cosmic life, while within the octagon are displayed the various planes of consciousness, through which humanity must rise to attain a perfect Manhood. At the top is a wingedIsis, the Mother or Oversoul whose wings veil the face of the Supreme from those below. There is a circle dimly seen of celestial figures who hail with joy the triumph of a new initiate, one who has reached to the heart of the Supreme. From that point he looks back with compassion upon all who still are wandering below and turns to go down again to their help as a Saviour of Men. Below him is the red ring of the guardians who strike down those who have not the "password," symbolized by the white flame floating over the head of the purified aspirant. Two children, representing purity, pass up unchallenged. In the centre of the picture is a warrior who has slain the dragon of illusion, the dragon of the lower self, and is now prepared to cross the gulf by using the body of the dragon as his bridge (for we rise on steps made of conquered weaknesses, the slain dragon of the lower nature).[46][47]
His paintingVision of the New Day continues a theme ofThe Path. The New Day is a symbol of enlightenment, which the human soul can achieve, avoiding the temptations of materialism.[48]
Hermann Schmiechen (1855–1923)[53] joined the Theosophical Society in London on 20 June 1884.[54] And, fulfilling the request of Blavatsky, he began to paint portraits of theTheosophical Masters. The portrait of the MasterKoot Hoomi she assessed as "excellent" and immediately asked Schmiechen to begin working on a portrait of the MasterMorya. It took him about three weeks, to complete these paintings.[55] Some authors believe that Schmichen's work was a kind of "psychic experiment", and images of the Masters were transmitted to him telepathically.[56] In Introvigne's opinion, the most significant portraits of the mahatmas "in Theosophical history" were painted by Schmiechen.[57]
Brendan French made examination these portraits and, according to his conclusions, he stated that Schmiechen
appears to have been significantly influenced by theVenetiancinquecento, in particular by the deceptive tranquillity ofTitian's portraiture; equally, he seems to be enamoured ofRembrandt's psychologically-pregnant portraits... That the Masters' portraits should resonate withChristological overtones is hardly surprising. Schmiechen, like most Western artists concerned to invest their images with qualities of transcendence, turned for inspiration to the foundationaliconographical type of divine-humanhypostasis, the BiblicalChrist. The iconic potentialities of a Christ portrait were imported by Schmiechen into his own depiction of semi-divinised men, the Masters. Indeed, he employed several standard devices: an undifferentiated background; over-large, staring eyes; a frontal composition designed to focus attention directly upon the subject's confronting gaze; a sense of sagacity heightened by indications of the sitter's self-possession; no distracting detail in vestment or jewellery; and a framing of the features by long hair and a beard.[58]
Hilma af Klint (1862–1944)[59] "experimented with automatic drawing in a Spiritualist setting."[60][note 10] She joined theTheosophical Society Adyaron May 23, 1904. In 1920, af Klint became a member of theAnthroposophical Society and began "spending long periods inDornach."[62] The Theosophical and Anthroposophical ideas were a source of the inspiration for many of her paintings.[63] She painted "several series of impressive paintings exploring spiritual or sacred concepts". Her unique style united, in Tessel Bauduin's opinion, "geometric and biomorphic form with a free line".[60][note 11] Af Klint consideredabstract art to be the "spiritual precursor of a utopian social harmony, a world of tomorrow."[64] According to Introvigne, only recently, after several exhibitions in different countries, she was recognized as an important European abstract artist.[65]
Florence Fuller (1867–1946)[69] joined theTheosophical Society in 1905.[70] In the same year, she createdA Golden Hour "widely regarded as a national Australian masterpiece."[71] From 1908 to 1911 in Adyar, she painted portraits of the leaders of the Theosophical Society and the Theosophical Masters.[72][note 12]
In Adyar, Fuller created an "unknown number" of portraits of the mahatmas, including theLord Buddha. Of these, only a portrait of the Master Buddha has been published.[74] In Brendan French's opinion, this portrait illustrates reducing "sex characteristics, and thus appear androgynous." He argued this is "founded inRenaissance angelology."[58] According to McFarlane, Fuller chose the colors for this painting in full accordance with the Theosophical canon expounded inThought-Forms[22] by Besant and Leadbeater.[75]
Michel Seuphor wrote that Mondrian's religion "went fromCalvinism to Theosophy and from Theosophy toNeoplasticism," that had included Theosophy and became his main world-view.[83] Mondrian believed that his neoplastic concept should in the "most objective and rational way possible transmit" the Theosophical idea of theAbsolute. In his opinion, the neoplastic art will in future replace religion. And artist's role – "as priest of this religious art – will consist in helping the common man reach the desired after inner balance."[84][note 15]
Mondrian chose for his "monumental triptych"Evolution, a theme which is one of the main doctrines in the Theosophical teaching.[86][note 16] According to Robert Welsh, the blue and yellow colors used in the work can be explained as astral "shells or radiations" of the figures. Can be thought that these personages take part in the Theosophical initiation. However, one should examine them as the same person "viewed in three complementary aspects."[88] If go in the order "left, right, and center," we have a standard mystical advancement "from matter through soul to spirit."[89] InIsis Unveiled, Blavatsky wrote:
Three spirits live and actuate man, teachesParacelsus; three worlds pour their beams upon him; but all three only as the image and echo of one and the same all-constructing and uniting principle of production. The first is the spirit of the elements (terrestrial body and vital force in its brute condition); the second, the spirit of the stars (sidereal or astral body—the soul); the third is the Divine spirit (Augoeidés).[90]
Nicholas Roerich (1874–1947)[91][92] and his wifeHelena createdAgni Yoga, a "Theosophically inspired form of esotericism." This "neo-Theosophical" doctrine was first explained in 1929.[93][note 17] Introvigne designated the Roerichs' doctrine as a "Theosophical schism."[95][note 18] According toJoscelyn Godwin, Roerich was "probably the most thoroughly Theosophical of 20th-century painters, although opinions of his merit vary."[5]
Even before 1910,[note 20]Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944)[99] studied the Theosophical books[22][100][101] of Blavatsky, Besant and Leadbeater, Steiner, and Schuré.[3][102][note 21] In 1912, he wrote in his main theoretical workÜber das Geistige in der Kunst on the importance of Theosophy "for his art".[104][note 22] According toBoris Falikov, Theosophy helped Kandinsky conceptually to comprehend creative and spiritual experiences, which, as he understood, "more and more merged into a single whole." The works by Blavatsky, Steiner, and their like-minded people helped him not only to conceptualize his experience, but also to formulate his own mission, which combined the artistic and religious dimension. He comprehended that he was an active participant in the turn to the spiritual world about which "Theosophy prophesied."[106]
In his treatise, Kandinsky stated that Blavatsky began "one of the greatest spiritual movements which unites a great number of people and which also has established a material form of this spiritual phenomenon in the Theosophical Society."[107] He presented a long quotation from Blavatsky's bookThe Key to Theosophy:
A new herald of truth will find the minds of men prepared for his message... A new manner of expression is created in which to clothe the new truths, an organization which will await his arrival, and will then proceed to remove the merely material obstacles and difficulties from his path.[108]
According to Ringbom, in the "General Part" of his treatise,[109] Kandinsky has actually repeated Schuré's introduction[110] into the Theosophical doctrine. This fact is confirmed his "polemic against materialism, positivism and scepticism, the references to spiritism and psychical research as proofs of the approaching spiritual synthesis of science, religion and art."[111]Rose-Carol Washton Long wrote that Theosophy convinced Kandinsky that "hidden imagery could be a powerful method" of conveying the spiritual ideas.[112] In his lexicon, Leadbeater's concept of vibration was fixed for life.[113] He used it in his "most famous image" of creativity:
Colour is a means of exercising direct influence upon the soul. Colour is the keyboard. The eye is the hammer, while the soul is a piano of many strings. The artist is the hand through which the medium of the corresponding keys causes the human soul to vibrate.It is, thus, evident that colour harmony can rest only on the principle of the corresponding touch to the human soul.[114][note 23]
Melchior Lechter (1865–1937)[119] studied painting at theHochschule der Künste, Berlin.[120] In 1896 at Berlin, he had his first exhibition. He was also a publisher, founder the Unicorn Press (German:Einhorn Presse), and "had an interest in Theosophy."[121] In his paintings and writings, Lechter integrated "ideas of both the medieval German and the ancient Indian mystics."[122]
Lechter had "his own ideas" about the nature of colour. For example, he believed that Rembrandt in his pictureJoseph and Potiphar's Wife (Rembrandt) [de] had expressed the "smouldering lewdness of the woman through the yellowish brown mud-colour of her cloak which, moreover, looked as if it were moist." He also argued that expressive quality of the colours by which a "painter could symbolize the character of his subject" was the artistic reproduction of a natural phenomenon, because, in his opinion, "from everyone a special variegated aura emanates which, however, could only be seen by people who were endowed with a special faculty."[123] Jan Stottmeister called Lechter's worldview the "Theosophical Catholicism", since he explained the esoteric significance of "hisexoteric Catholicism" with quotations fromThe Secret Doctrine by Blavatsky andThought-Forms[22] by Besant and Leadbeater.[124]
František Kupka (1871–1957)[127] had been a "practicing spiritistmedium" in Prague and Vienna before his moving to Paris in 1896.[5][128] Like Kandinsky, he "found inspiration in Theosophy and the occult, and promoted a subjective-intuitive approach to art."[129] Among the Theosophical sources, Besant and Leadbeater's bookThought-Forms[22] had great influence for him.[130] He interested in the Theosophical theory of colour as well as scientific one.[131] Like Mondrian, Kupka accepted an idea on the fourth dimension "as a supplement" to his Theosophical faith.[132][note 27]
In Chelsea Jones' opinion, Kupka's paintingThe Dream (1909) confirms his "interest inBuddhism, Theosophy, and science and represents his belief in the immaterial."[135] She wrote that this work also demonstrates the "Theosophical notion" on astral vision:
InThe Dream, Kupka presented a vision of invisible reality. Here the imaginary floating forms dominate the scene; they dwarf the forms of visible reality, as represented by the fleshy forms lying in sleep. Through the variation in scale between the dream figures and their earthly forms, Kupka clearly made the painting about an experience of invisible reality with the immaterial dominating the material.[136][note 28]
In Vladimir Ivanov's opinion,[143] Beckmann's painting theDeath (German:Der Tod) requires the Theosophical commentary, without which the meaning of the composition is impossible to understand. Obviously, depicting death, Beckman "relied" on the knowledge he had learned from reading the Theosophical literature. The composition includes the moment of development in time, passing into the timeless (astral) dimension: various stages of post-mortem states are shown. Ivanov stated that the painter introduced the post-mortem experiences of a person burdened with vices. The upper part of the painting is compositionally dominant over the lower one in its meaning and value. Another peculiarity is that the picture represents different time phases and existential states. In the middle is a strange image of the creature with an extinguished candle. Six trotters peek out from under the robe, that immediately makes it clear about the astral nature of this character. The transition from the earthly to the supersensible is traced. Further action takes place in the upper part of the composition, which needs a "hermetic" interpretation.[144]
Theosophy represents death as "a long process consisting of various changing phases." The first phase is connected with the experience ofkâmaloka. Besant explained it as follows: "Kâmaloka, literally the place or habitat of desire, is... a part of the astral plane, not divided from it as a distinct locality, but separated off by the conditions of consciousness of the entities belonging to it."[145] Beckman wanted to show that the selection and objectification of ended life memories occurs in kâmaloka. According to Ivanov, the monsters at the top of the composition are "nothing more than the objectification of the mental states of the deceased woman." Besant wrote that the first experience after death will be the seeing of the "panorama" of the past life, which at the "death hour" unfolds before every dead in all the experienced details. She stated that "he sees his ambitions with their success or frustration... the predominant tendency of the whole comes clearly out, the ruling thought of the life asserts itself, and stamps itself deeply into the soul, marking the region in which the chief part of his post-mortem existence will be spent."[146] The double structure of the compositionDeath should be also explained from the Theosophical point of view, because the viewing life after death is done in reverse order: from end to beginning. Ivanov referred on Steiner who has written: "During the time of purification man, as it were, lives his life in reverse order... He begins with the events that immediately preceded death and experiences everything in reverse order back to childhood."[147] Other facts, events, and beings in the astral world are also accepted in reverse order. Leadbeater said that the clairvoyant will find it difficult to be aware of what he sees, and even more difficult of that—to put into words everything he observed. A vivid example of the misconceptions that an observer may undergo is the reverse placement of numbers reflected in the "astral light". For example, 931 instead of 139, and so on.[148] Therefore, the characters depicted upside down in the upper part of the composition testify to the painter knowledge of the laws of the astral plane.[149]
Beckmann was uncommonly "impressed" byThe Secret Doctrine which he ended to read in 1934. Then he made several different sketches "on the theme" of its second volumeAnthropogenesis. The album with these sketches is in theNational Gallery (Washington, D.C.). Along with sketches in the album there are excerpts from this book by Blavatsky. A series of sketches is devoted to the development of motives, which then found their finished expression in the workEarly Men (German:Frühe Menschen).[139][150][note 30]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toLuigi Russolo.
Luigi Russolo (1885–1947)[155] had interest in occultism and Theosophy.[156] InLuciano Chessa's opinion, Theosophy is the "key" that makes it possible to "identify, decode, and contextualize" Russolo's interest in the occult, which is present in his compositions: from his "printmaking and paintings" to his theoretical works on music.[157]
In creativity of Russolo, the Theosophical ideas had been first used in hisetching andaquatintMasks (Italian:Maschere, 1908).[158] His reading the Theosophical books by Besant and Leadbeater on sound-forms[22][159] "probably influenced one of his most icastic" paintings,Force Lines of Lightning (Italian:Linee-forza della folgore, 1912).[160] The triangular picture of the shock wave in this painting is "extraordinarily close" to the depiction of the sound-forms of a thunderstorm, which described in Leadbeater'sThe Hidden Side of Things: "The majestic roll of a thunderstorm creates usually a vast flowing band of colour, while the deafening crash often calls into temporary existence an arrangement of irregular radiations... or sometimes a huge irregular sphere with spikes projecting from it in all directions."[161]
Chessa wrote that Russolo's paintingLa musica represents, according to Leadbeater, "the hidden side of the performance of a piece of music."[162]The painting demonstrates a pianist playing in a "state of rapturous enthusiasm." The lines of his face can hardly be distinguished. His hands are "represented in a mad, virtuosic dash along an infinite keyboard."[163][note 32] This work, likeMaschere, shows a series of flying masks with various expressions that can readily be interpreted as a "visualization or materialization of the different states of mind" of a pianist-medium, which performed by spirits he himself has summoned.[158] The authors ofThought-Forms explained that the spirits that "reside in the astral plane have the energy to change the course of thought-forms that already exist, and to make them move."[165][166] In Chessa's opinion, this painting is "structured according to criteria presented inThought-Forms,[167] in particular the section of the book that describes the forms produced by music."[168][note 33]
Arnaldo Ginna (born Arnaldo Ginanni Corradini; 1890–1982),[171] like Kandinsky, had theoretical works on the arts (for example,Arte dell'avvenire [Art of the Future], 1910 andPittura dell'avvenire [Painting of the Future], 1915).[172]Germano Celant called him "the most esoteric" futurist, pointing out his interest in the Theosophical and occult literature.[173][note 34] Among his publications it can found those that contain cites fromThought-Forms[22] andMan Visible and Invisible.[24][175]
In 1908, Ginna painted a pictureNeurasthenia that could be described as a piece of abstract art.[176] In this painting, "he tried to portray a state of mind."[171][note 35]Neurasthenia is the first thing of abstract painting, for it "preceded Kandinsky's first abstract water colour by two years."[178]
In the esotericism researchers' opinion, illustrations to the bookThought-Forms, which were made by John Varley, Mr. Prince, and Miss Macfarlane,[179][5] are "very reminiscent of much abstract andsurrealistic painting"[180] and "wouldn't look out of place hanging alongside earlyMalevich or Kandinsky abstractions."[181][note 36] Nevertheless, authors of the book fully directed a working of the artists who embodied their ideas and their vision.[183][note 37]
CountMaurice Prozor [ru] (1849–1928) has painted illustrations to Leadbeater's bookMan Visible and Invisible.[5][186]
Alfred Edward Warner (1879–1968) had in Sydney his own commercial art studio. In 1923, he became a member of the Australian Painter-Etcher's Society and was in its Council at 1923–1925. In 1923, he was also one of the founders of the Australian Ex Libris Society.[189] For several years Warner successfully collaborated with Leadbeater, illustrating his books, in particular,The Science of the Sacraments.[190] On his illustrationThe CompletedEucharistic Form "the thought-form takes a mosque-like appearance with minarets rising from the church to envelop and influence the surrounding countryside."[191] In preface to hisChakras [ru], Leadbeter wrote that the "fine series of drawings" to the book was made by Edward Warner.[192]
External images
Illustrations to the Theosophical bookKingdom of the Gods.[193]
In 1937, painter Ethelwynne M. Quail has performed illustrations to the Theosophical bookKingdom of the Gods based uponGeoffrey Hodson's "researches, carried out between 1921 and 1929."[5][194] The book author noted, "As she has painted them to my descriptions, she is responsible only for their execution, not for their composition, colouring or form."[195]
In 1947,Terence Harold Robsjohn-Gibbings (1905–1976), criticizing modern art,[196] accused it of "vicious connection" with the occult.[197][note 38] Robsjohn-Gibbings' criticism was so "successful that, for decades, supporters of abstract art religiously avoided mentioning the esoteric connections of its pioneers." Interest in Theosophy of such abstract art leaders as Mondrian and Kandinsky was used "as a weapon" against modern art in general "byevangelical Christians and other critics."[199]
The prejudgment against connection the sources of modern art with Theosophy still exists.[200][note 39] For example, art history scholarYve-Alain Bois claimed that "the Theosophical nonsense with which the artist's mind was momentarily encumbered" disappeared quite rapidly from Mondrian's art,[202] but Mondrian himself wrote: "I got everything fromThe Secret Doctrine."[203] The "Inventing Abstraction, 1910–1925" exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 2012–2013 "completely ignored" the value of occultism and Theosophy.[204] Art criticWaldemar Januszczak wrote on 7 February 2010:
The fact is, Theosophy... is embarrassing. If there is one thing you do not want your hardcore modernist to be, it is a member of an occult cult... Theosophy takes art intoDan Brown territory. No serious student of art history wants to touch it.[205]
Januszczak claimed also that Theosophy was "fraudulent" and "ridiculous," and that "one day, someone will write a big book on the remarkable influence of Theosophy on modern art" and "its nonsensical spell" on so many modern artists.[206] But, asMassimo Introvigne wrote, "conferences, publications, and exhibitions about Theosophy's influence on modern art continue at an increasing pace."[207][note 40]
^In fact, this picture became an emblem of study of the Theosophical influence on the modern arts: for example, see this page.[2]
^In September 2013, an academic conferenceEnchanted Modernities: Theosophy and the Arts in the Modern World was held at theUniversity of Amsterdam, at which about 50 reports were presented to an audience of 150 scholars.[7] Most of these reports dealt with a question of Theosophy and the visual arts.[8] In fine, asWouter J. Hanegraaff noted, "contemporary art is a veritable fancy-fair of theesoteric and theoccult."[9]
^Robert Ellwood wrote that, according to Theosophy, "auras may be made up of a complex combination ofetheric,astral, and mental matter."[13]Olav Hammer wrote, "The aura is described as a colored sheath surrounding the physical body."[14]
^Hammer wrote that "Leadbeater proposed a theory of the human aura" based on someHelena Blavatsky's ideas.[16] According to Blavatsky, "Every person emits a magnetic exhalation or aura."[17]
^Steiner argued that "the wealth of colour in these higher worlds is immeasurably greater than in the physical world."[20] He had also believed that artistic sensitivity is a prerequisite for the development ofspiritual abilities, as it "pierces through the surface of things, and by so doing reaches their secrets."[21]
^Jay Johnston stated that Besant and Leadbeater "developed their proposition of the existence in subtle substance of pulsating forms, variably coloured that corresponded to the mental/emotional/spiritual experience of the individual."[26]
^In Roger Lipsey's opinion, Theosophy was able to create "avisual language that entered into the mainstream twentieth-century art."[31]
^This painting hangs in the administration building at the International Headquarters of theTheosophical Society Pasadena, California. It is in oil and gesso, measuring 6'2" × 7'5" [188 × 226 cm].[38]
^She studiedSpiritualism and became herself amedium. In 1896, she formed the groupThe Five (Swedish:De Fem), which "produced automatic paintings."[61]
^She has been also discerned as an "abstract pioneer predating Kandinsky."[64]
^Jenny McFarlane praised the portrait of C. W. Leadbeater created by Fuller in 1911.[73]
^Bauduin wrote that Mondrian "was most concerned with cosmic harmony, which was to be expressed in a correct balance between general and abstract elements representative of absolute truth and absolute beauty."[85]
^The "Evolution" contain the Theosophical elements in full.[87]
^The Roerichs joined the Russian Section of theTS (perhaps unofficially) before the First World War.[94]
^Anita Stasulane wrote that the "Roerichs' relation with the Russian Section of theTS was seriously affected by the issue of the right to translate Blavatsky's works."[96]
^In 1910, Kandinsky painted his first abstract work.[98]
^Ringbom noted that Kandinsky's interest in Theosophy and esotericism was not "some kind of personal hobby, a strictly private amusement which played a negligible role in the formation of his artistic outlook."[103]
^Moshe Barasch pointed out that Theosophy "was of direct concern to Kandinsky." It became a "significant factor" in his "intellectual world."[105]
^In Bowlt's opinion, the Theosophical colour symbolism was the bait that attracted Kandinsky to the "world of Theosophy."[115]
^According to Jan Stottmeister, this painting joins an "apparently Catholic subject, theHoly Communion," with the Theosophical teaching on aura.[117]
^Leadbeater used a term the fourth dimension, saying in his books about "astral vision."[133] According to Bauduin, the "fourth dimension" and the Theosophical "astral plane" are equivalent concepts.[134]
^On the lower left corner of the painting, Kupka wrote: "My dear Ninie, Here I sketch the dream that I had of the two of us—Yours, Franc." (French:Ma Chère Ninie, Voici ébauche le reve que J'ai eu-nous deux—Ton Franc.)[137]
^He has read all volumes of the German translations ofThe Secret Doctrine (German:Geheimlehre) andIsis Unveiled (German:Entschleierte Isis).[142]
^SeeFrühe Menschen (1947) by Max Beckmann on this page.[151]
^According to Marianne Martin, the many-armed pianist inLa musica symbolizesŚivaNataraja, the "creator and lord of the cosmic dance in theHindu pantheon," and it proves Russolo's interest in Eastern philosophies, which "were a main source" of Theosophy.[164]
^Introvigne confirmed thatThought-Forms influenced Russolo,[169] and noted, as example, his workLa musica.[170]
^He read books of such authors as Helena Blavatsky, Rudolf Steiner,Franz Hartmann, and Charles Leadbeater.[174]
^SeeNeurasthenia (1908) by Ginna on this page.[177]
^InT. H. Robsjohn-Gibbings' opinion, "many of the first abstract paintings...bear a striking resemblance to the thought forms."[182]
^According to Robsjohn-Gibbings, abstract art is "a by-product of astral manifestation as revealed by Theosophy, spiritualism, and occultism."[198]
^Art philosopherVictor Bychkov [ru] stated that he self attitudes to Theosophy,Anthroposophy, and other esoteric teachings skeptically. In his opinion, esotericism did not contribute to the "creation ofaesthetic values worthy of attention."[201]
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A Woman in Moscow (1912).[note 19]
