Vision 1905

Curator: This is "Vision," a work rendered in tempera and watercolor on paper by Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, dating from 1905. Editor: Woah. It's stark, almost apocalyptic. I feel like I’m staring into the sunset of… everything. That snake winding around the cross, set against what looks like the sea—it’s undeniably powerful, but also quite unnerving. Curator: That starkness is key to understanding Čiurlionis's intent. He was deeply interested in symbolism and theosophy, weaving complex narratives through his visual language. The cross here, entwined by a serpent, could be interpreted in numerous ways—perhaps a collision of pagan and Christian motifs? Editor: A collision, yes! Or maybe an evolution? I like the serpent here—traditionally seen as something negative—as something beautiful. Something that moves the whole cross into another, possibly new, dimension. It’s about transformation. About re-envisioning. Curator: Exactly. Čiurlionis wasn’t simply illustrating religious dogma. He was grappling with profound questions about humanity's place in the cosmos. Consider the period—early 20th century, a time of immense social and intellectual upheaval. This piece seems to reflect that tension. He really captures how social order itself seemed to be both ossified and ready to be broken apart at once. Editor: It’s brave too, isn't it? To blend what you know to be disparate elements of the universe together to conjure up something new in this way. The hazy horizon definitely gives the image a sense of limitless possibility—or perhaps that’s just the limitlessness of a single person’s vision, as the title suggests. It asks so much of you as the viewer; dares you to reach out beyond. Curator: It really does dare you. Its boldness is one of the reasons that the piece retains such relevance. It makes you think about vision in the context of the history of painting itself: it pushes us to understand what that actually means. Editor: Yes! In the end, isn't vision about perspective? A kind of personal earthquake. "Vision" certainly makes me want to tilt my own a little.