Angel (Angel prelude) 1909

Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis made this painting, Angel (Angel prelude), at an unknown date and with unknown materials. It's got these hazy colors, like a dream you can almost remember. Imagine Ciurlionis, layering thin washes of paint, building up this ethereal landscape bit by bit. It feels like he's searching for something, maybe a connection between the earth and something beyond. Look at the way he's built up the angel’s wings – they’re not just wings, but this fiery energy that seems to pulse with the whole scene. I wonder if he felt like he was channeling something bigger than himself. Did he feel like he was painting music? A feeling, or a memory of something he could see in his mind’s eye? Painting, like music, is a conversation across time and space. Artists are always talking to each other. Ciurlionis is like some kind of weird cousin of Odilon Redon, right? In painting, we embrace not knowing as an ongoing question. Uncertainty is part of the process. That's where the magic happens.