Sorrow (I) 1907

Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis made "Sorrow (I)" with tempera on paper, and the way he approaches mark-making feels like he's feeling his way through the world. The surface has a powdery, matte quality to it, like pastel almost, with these incredible stabs of dark paint, almost like spears in the foreground. They create this sense of unease and tension, which contrasts the soft, dreamy atmosphere of the sky and horizon. It’s not quite clear whether he is using a brush, or some other tool to apply the paint, and the way the paint is applied is part of the story, or the riddle, I guess. Look at how he’s layered the colors in the sky, pale yellows and grays, creating a hazy, ethereal effect. It’s like a memory, something distant and just out of reach. And then those spears - whoa! I think of other symbolist painters like Odilon Redon, who used dream imagery to explore the darker sides of the human psyche. Ciurlionis does too, but with a really distinctive vision. He lets us feel the weight of sorrow, but also the possibility of light.