According to the scheme of the three periods, we have arrived at the third one—which was designated as the Aim.
In the compositional painting which is developing today we see the signs of the attainment of the higher step of pure art, in which the remains of the practical desire (all evidences of objectivity) can be perfectly separated, which can speak from soul to soul in purely artistic language.
The conscious and oftentimes also still unconscious striving, which strongly (and ever stronger) shows itself today, to replace the objective (subject paintings) by pure construction (pure composition) is the first sign of the dawning of that pure art to which the past art periods inevitably led.
I have been trying to briefly deal with the entire development and more especially the situation today in broad schematic outlines; therefore there are many deficiencies (gaps) which necessarily remain uncovered, and there are passed over many interesting lesser developments, which are inevitable in progress, like smaller branches on the tree, which extend outward notwithstanding the tree’s growth upward.
The further development, which is pending in painting, will still have to suffer many seeming contradictions and diversions, as was the case with music, which today we know already as pure art.
The past teaches us that the development of humanity consists in the increasing spirituality of various factors. Among these factors art takes the first place.
Among the arts painting is following the road that leads it from the practical-efficiency to the intellectual-efficiency. From the subject-picture to the pure composition.
To better understand the foregoing take the “Improvisation No. 30.”[52]
It is a very pure example of compositional painting, but it
