Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane 1901

Arkhyp Kuindzhi made this painting of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane sometime around the turn of the century, with oils, I imagine. See how Kuindzhi lets the dark, almost black tones dominate the canvas, and then pierces it with that otherworldly white light? He must have thought long and hard about where to put it. It feels like a visitation, both holy and alien. I know that spot must have been the very last thing he painted. It’s a brave thing to do, to take on a subject that has been painted so many times. But it is like he doesn’t care about that stuff. The only thing that seems to matter here is the light, the gesture of one lone figure in the night and the idea that an artist can have a conversation with these images. It makes you wonder what he was trying to say.