Thor 1909

Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis made this painting, Thor, with paint, but the date isn’t known. The palette is brooding, intense; layers of dark shades almost completely overwhelm the light, like a storm gathering force. Close up, you can see that Ciurlionis’s brushstrokes are like thick, tactile waves. They give shape to the darkness, carving it into peaks and troughs. The overall effect is one of tension, a sense of something immense and powerful about to be unleashed. There’s a flash of orange and gold, hints of the divine, but they’re fleeting, almost swallowed by the encroaching gloom. This dance between light and shadow is very reminiscent of the work of Hilma af Klint, another artist interested in hidden, spiritual realms.