Andante (Sonata of the Stars) 1908

Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis made *Andante (Sonata of the Stars)* with thin layers of paint, building up a world with subtle tonal shifts. This kind of layering is like composing music, each layer creating depth and harmony, each mark building up to a crescendo. Looking at the surface, I see these translucent washes of color, building up a sort of dream-like space. The paint seems to float on the surface, creating a sense of ethereal lightness, like distant planets seen through a telescope. There's this gorgeous, almost imperceptible gradient in the lower orb, where the colors shift from pale blues to deeper indigo, and how these vertical lines subtly cut through the scene. Are they musical bars? Or just an odd structural element that creates a tension between depth and flatness. Ciurlionis has a series of paintings called “Sonatas” where he tries to synthesize painting and music. I see a kinship with Hilma af Klint in his visionary approach to abstraction. The point is not to show something, but to open up a space for something else.