"The Sounding Cosmos" Revisited: Sixten Ringbom and the Discovery of Theosophical Influences on Modern Art
Starting with the 2013 conference Enchanted Modernities in Amsterdam, a number of academic events, exhibitions, and publications (including a 2016 special issue of Nova Religio) documented the growing interest of both art historians and scholars of new religious movements in the influence of the The...
| Published in: | Nova religio |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Californiarnia Press
[2018]
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| In: |
Nova religio
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Ringbom, Sixten 1935-1992
/ Kandinsky, Wassily 1866-1944
/ Jawlensky, Alexej von 1864-1941
/ Theosophy
/ Art
/ History 1900-2000
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| RelBib Classification: | AZ New religious movements |
| Further subjects: | B
Maria Strakosch-Giesler
B Anthroposophy B Theosophy B Rudolf Steiner B Sixten Ringbom B Alexej von Jawlenski B Marianne von Werefkin B Wassily Kandinsky |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Starting with the 2013 conference Enchanted Modernities in Amsterdam, a number of academic events, exhibitions, and publications (including a 2016 special issue of Nova Religio) documented the growing interest of both art historians and scholars of new religious movements in the influence of the Theosophical Society and other esoteric groups on the birth and development of modern art. At the center of this renewed interest is the controversial work of Finnish art historian Sixten Ringbom (1935-1992), who in the late 1960s discovered the Theosophical connections of Russian pioneer of abstract art Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), discussed in his book The Sounding Cosmos. In this paper, I discuss Ringbom's background, his almost coincidental discovery of Theosophy, the ostracism his work received from those who did not want modern art to be associated with irrationalist and disreputable cults, and his posthumous influence on the birth of a new subfield within the study of new religious movements, devoted to their relationships with the visual arts. |
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| ISSN: | 1541-8480 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Nova religio
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1525/nr.2018.21.3.29 |