Lightning 1909

Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis gave us "Lightning," a painting that feels less like a depiction and more like a raw experience of nature’s power. Look at how he builds up the scene with thin, washy layers. The paint isn't trying to hide itself; it's all about the gesture, the layering. The repeated vertical strokes describing the reflection of the lightning in the water create a rhythm. It’s almost like musical notation, the painting of a symphony, a visual echo of the thunder. The textures are built up with an intuitive touch, a direct translation of feeling onto canvas. The more I look the more I see of artists like Marsden Hartley, who turned to landscape painting as a way of trying to find God. It's the kind of work that reminds us art is a conversation, not a monologue. Ciurlionis isn’t just showing us lightning; he's inviting us to feel its charge.