Creation of the World II 1906

Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis made this small painting, Creation of the World II, with tempera on cardboard. It’s so dark, it’s mostly deep purple, a vortex of it, but then this glowing almost-white orb appears in the middle. You can almost feel the brushstrokes swirling around, like the paint itself is alive and breathing. I can imagine Ciurlionis in his studio, mixing these deep, moody colors, layering them on, trying to capture something ineffable, something beyond words. Was he thinking about cosmic creation? Personal creation? Look at how the light seems to emanate from within, pushing against the darkness. It reminds me of other painters like Hilma af Klint, who were also exploring spiritual dimensions through abstraction. But here, there's something so intimate and almost desperate about the gesture, as if Ciurlionis is reaching for something just beyond his grasp, and ours too. It's like he’s saying, “Let’s just see what happens. I don’t know.”