Art As Spiritual Activity

Although trained as a scientist and a philosopher, Rudolf Steiner always placed a high value on the practice of art and always worked artistically: whatever he did was done with great artistry. Furthermore, as a spiritual teacher, Steiner's ideal was the reunion of science, religion, and art in a new, human sacramental culture. The eleven lectures collected here reveal the many-facetted perspectives Steiner offered regarding the vital role of the visual arts in human affairs. For Steiner, art is above all a way of building a bridge between the spiritual and the physical realms. His views are not abstract theories or utopian ideals, but a constant striving through the inherent qualities of color and form to realize concrete artistic projects in architecture, sculpture, and painting.

On first meeting Steiner's radical ideas, many people -- artists as well as non-artists -- wonder what sense they can make of such an approach to art. The introduction by Michael Howard introduces these ideas by recounting one artist's experience of struggling to make Steiner's views and way of doing art his own. Ultimately, however each person must make their own relationship to Steiner's approach, buth the story of how one artist took up the challenge may stimulate others to do the same. The book includes numerous photographs.