subject: An esoteric emotion [print this page] An esoteric emotion An esoteric emotion
iurlionis' works were "painted sonatas", born of a musical architecture applied to painting. His canvasses are visionary and "affected" by feverish creativity, and Milan is dedicating a great exhibition titled "iurlionis. An esoteric voyage", produced by the Palazzo Reale, the Antonio Mazzotta Foundation and the the M. K. iurlionis National Museum of Art.
After his death in 1911 at just thirty-six years old, iurlionis left a comet trail across painting, introducing veiled and intimately dazzling tones which the philosopher Rudolf Steiner claimed to belong to the third part of man: the spirit. To understand iurlionis' art you need to understand the forests of the Baltic, those spaces of peace and tranquillity in which he spent his childhood and from which he took inspiration for his paintings and his compositions. Visions, illuminations, flashes of that pure essence without which, as Jung said, man's existence loses all meaning.
Indeed, his paintings are "visions of other worlds" to be studies in order to understand the fragility of a genius, alone in his art, who transcends all attempts to classify him artistically. His unspoiled landscapes and dreaming places, depicted with extraordinary delicateness, endow the viewer with a sense of an astonishing and dazed peace. Sound and colours are meant to be discerned together, against varying greys, iridescent browns, and smoky blues. His was a music for the eyes which influenced many contemporary artists but not only them: iurlionis numbered among his followers' Stravinsky; Romain Rolland, winner of the Nobel Prize for literature; and the great Vasily Kandinksy. Even Rothko was a fan.
This is the invitation to come and discover iurlionis, a long-awaited guest in Italy, to try to measure the sublime nature of his works through physical and mental emotions. They are not only feelings that you experience physically, but also metaphysically. They are emotions which come from afar: esoteric emotions.
iurlionis- An esoteric voyage
Milan, Palazzo Reale
From 17th November 2010 to 13th February 2011
Produced by
Palazzo Reale
The Antonio Mazzotta Foundation
The M.K. iurlionis National Museum of Art
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