First of all, what is going on here is allowing the viewer a glimpse of what it may be like to be synesthetic. Synesthesia is a neurological condition that more or less blends the senses. People may hear colors or even taste with touch. It is a very interesting and rare mechanism that is likely passed along the X chromosome meaning that Kandinsky likely inherited this trait from his mother (Serendip). In this scenario, Kandinsky was said to have heard some music that registered as colors in which he then transferred onto the canvas.
This could be considered one of the most important, if not the most, pieces of the time because it is further breaking up the boundaries of academic art that occurred simultaneously with the divergence of religion and science. Kandinsky, with his synesthesia, produced works that were truly abstract. Others before him flirted with pushing the boundaries of what art was allowed to be, but Kandinsky straight painted whatever came to him. For instance in "Improvisation 28 (second version)" it is very hard to depict any recognizable figure, which is basically the definition of abstract (Collection Online).
As stated, this was a time when science and religion was splitting a apart. A time when Helena Blavatsky influenced theosophy in which she claimed that all of the worlds religions have common ideas to connect all people. (Helena Blavatsky) The later would give Nazi Germany an outlet to justify their Arian race theory. Darwin's theory of evolution was still fresh and other advancements help disconnect the two into their own distinct categories. And this is where Kandinsky believed that art could recover the spiritualness during the divergence. Wassily Kaninsky, through his synesthesia and abstract expressionism tried to bring spirituality in confusing times.
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