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It would not have been possible to write The Elements of Fine Art without the freedom and independence that Itten nurtured at his Berlin school and the experience he had gained in previous stages of his life. This book is both a record of his current teaching process and the result of his 15 years of artistic and pedagogical research. The parallel existence and intertwining of these two spheres, characteristic of Itten's personality, becomes a conscious means of expression.

The subtitle "Diary" reveals something important about the structure and idea of the book, if we take it as intended by the author: not literally, but metaphorically. After all, the pages presented are the result of daily work on the principles of fine art, work that did not end with the writing of the diary. Therefore, this book does not offer once and for all achieved results, but rather illustrates the process of searching and finding, in which certain topics are considered again and again from a particular angle. This approach is in line with Itten's development, whose progress can be depicted not as a clear straight line, but rather as a spiral.

"Itten ... recognised - for which he was sometimes criticised by purists - that there are different ways of seeing and expressing artistic expression, and built on this understanding: in his own varied work, but above all in his teaching, which was designed to lay as broad a foundation as possible, to develop both spontaneous expression and accurate observation of nature and rational thought. That is why the Diary, as a result and protocol of such an educational process, remains relevant in our time, which is characterised by a plurality of artistic movements." - Peter Schmitt, Foreword to Elements of Fine Art

"Contemporary art movements demonstrate an excessive emphasis on the power of love, or the power of reason. True greatness lies in the middle."

Knowledge of polyphony is an indispensable aid in the process of creating a work of art. However, this knowledge alone is by no means enough to generate artistic value without the help of the power of love. Armed with this knowledge, we can study counterpoint without fear of harmful consequences.

In the following pages I have written down some things that are worth knowing. In the following pages, I deliberately pay very little attention to describing the most modern artistic exercises in order to present the most general of the fog of the contemporary great." - Johannes Itten, Introduction to The Elements of Fine Art