DOI Artikel:
Siechowicz, Paweł: The key to M. K. Čiurlionis’s synthesis of the Arts
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23935#0073
THE KEYTO M.K. CIURLIONIS'S SYNTHESIS OF THE ARTS
67
4. Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis, Sketch for Fugue, 1908, pencil, paper, Kaunas, Nacionalinis M.K. Ćiurlionio dailës
muziejus. Phot. P. Siechowicz
placed in one-third of the painting's width, which moves the viewer's attention even more strongly to the left,
where the dark contour form is located, thus making it the painting's centre of gravity.
If we remember the Prélude that was meant to précède the Fugue in the diptych, then we can see that
the particular contour form, its appearance having been already introduced in Prélude, is also the centre of the
diptych. That proves its clear importance to the painting's construction. Nonetheless, to reinforce this observa-
tion we shall look at one of the pages from Ciurlionis's sketchbook (See Fig. 4).
What we can see here is a contour sketch given in two variants, a study of three little oval flowers with
their reflections in the water, and their counterparts in the distance. No more sketches related to the Fugue can
be found, which is even more curious since sketches for the other two Fugues painted by Ciurlionis are much
more elaborate and closely resemble the final works. The material's scarcity, however, can provide us with
more information than if it were abundant.
Firstly, the study of oval flowers convinces us that Ciurlionis was interested in both mirror symmetry and
the spatial relations of painted objects. Therefore, when we look at the final painting and notice that the mirror
symmetry lacks its object or that the colour perspective of the lower part is somehow breached by the relations
of the trees, we can be sure that thèse effects of estrangement were carefully planned by the author.
Secondly, it is certain that the contour that focuses the painting's gravity had been given a lot of délibéra-
tion before it reached its final form. The two contours at the top of the page are actually its fontal variants. The
left one is drawn with a dynamie line. Three ascending peaks are marked with little circles to emphasize their
importance. After reaching the last of them, the contour line clearly and steadily déclines. The right contour is
drawn with a trembling line reminiscent of the shape of trees' crowns, which is known from Ciurlionis's ear-
lier painting The Sun (1907). The séquence of three ascending peaks is here repeated, with the ascending mo-
tion even clearer. But what was earlier a steadily declining line is now broken, which produces one additional
peak situated beneath the preceding one. As a resuit, peaks situated on either side of the highest one are almost
symmetrical. The contour on the right side closely resembles the one that found its way into the painting. The
only changes involve smoothing the line and the inclusion of the first peak into the ascending line.
Ciurlionis's careful attention to this contour at the early stage of planning the painting resembles the
attitude of a composer who attempts to write a fugue. First, one must invent a subject, which establishes the
paradigm for the subséquent composition. This process constitutes the final premise that allows me to call the
dark contour form a subject in Ciurlionis's Fugue.
This observation i s both a fundamental statement and a starting point for my interprétation. However,
before moving on, I shall présent one more finding that reveals the truly musical character of the painting's
thematic contour. That particular contour was transferred 6 months later on a musical staff to constitute the
subject of Ciurlionis's last musical composition, the Fugue Op. 34. The transfer can be approximated by fol-
lowing the graph (See Fig. 5).
67
4. Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis, Sketch for Fugue, 1908, pencil, paper, Kaunas, Nacionalinis M.K. Ćiurlionio dailës
muziejus. Phot. P. Siechowicz
placed in one-third of the painting's width, which moves the viewer's attention even more strongly to the left,
where the dark contour form is located, thus making it the painting's centre of gravity.
If we remember the Prélude that was meant to précède the Fugue in the diptych, then we can see that
the particular contour form, its appearance having been already introduced in Prélude, is also the centre of the
diptych. That proves its clear importance to the painting's construction. Nonetheless, to reinforce this observa-
tion we shall look at one of the pages from Ciurlionis's sketchbook (See Fig. 4).
What we can see here is a contour sketch given in two variants, a study of three little oval flowers with
their reflections in the water, and their counterparts in the distance. No more sketches related to the Fugue can
be found, which is even more curious since sketches for the other two Fugues painted by Ciurlionis are much
more elaborate and closely resemble the final works. The material's scarcity, however, can provide us with
more information than if it were abundant.
Firstly, the study of oval flowers convinces us that Ciurlionis was interested in both mirror symmetry and
the spatial relations of painted objects. Therefore, when we look at the final painting and notice that the mirror
symmetry lacks its object or that the colour perspective of the lower part is somehow breached by the relations
of the trees, we can be sure that thèse effects of estrangement were carefully planned by the author.
Secondly, it is certain that the contour that focuses the painting's gravity had been given a lot of délibéra-
tion before it reached its final form. The two contours at the top of the page are actually its fontal variants. The
left one is drawn with a dynamie line. Three ascending peaks are marked with little circles to emphasize their
importance. After reaching the last of them, the contour line clearly and steadily déclines. The right contour is
drawn with a trembling line reminiscent of the shape of trees' crowns, which is known from Ciurlionis's ear-
lier painting The Sun (1907). The séquence of three ascending peaks is here repeated, with the ascending mo-
tion even clearer. But what was earlier a steadily declining line is now broken, which produces one additional
peak situated beneath the preceding one. As a resuit, peaks situated on either side of the highest one are almost
symmetrical. The contour on the right side closely resembles the one that found its way into the painting. The
only changes involve smoothing the line and the inclusion of the first peak into the ascending line.
Ciurlionis's careful attention to this contour at the early stage of planning the painting resembles the
attitude of a composer who attempts to write a fugue. First, one must invent a subject, which establishes the
paradigm for the subséquent composition. This process constitutes the final premise that allows me to call the
dark contour form a subject in Ciurlionis's Fugue.
This observation i s both a fundamental statement and a starting point for my interprétation. However,
before moving on, I shall présent one more finding that reveals the truly musical character of the painting's
thematic contour. That particular contour was transferred 6 months later on a musical staff to constitute the
subject of Ciurlionis's last musical composition, the Fugue Op. 34. The transfer can be approximated by fol-
lowing the graph (See Fig. 5).