Page 218 - Uros Todorovic Byzantine Painting Contemporary Eyes

Byzantine Painting through Contemporary Eyes
implications of the aspect of abstraction in Byzantine painting indeed do mainly concern the functionality of a depicted theme in relation to the observer. However, contrary to Kordis’ above cited view, these practical implications cannot sufficiently explain the core reason for the specific kind of abstraction in Byzantine painting. For example, the same concern with practical functionality can be observed in relation to the lack of realism in Egyptian painting and relief, which are also characterised by a related yet distinctly dif- ferent tendency towards abstraction.
Furthermore, our analyses hitherto have demonstrated that it is precisely through the tendency towards abstraction that in Late Byzantine painting the content which is be- yond the form is insinuated. Accordingly, contrary to Kordis’ conclusion of his book, there are numerous examples of a manifold relationship between the abstract mood in Byzantine painting and the abstraction in 20th century Modern painting. This will also be demonstrated in the next two chapters of this book. If we compare Kandinsky’s painting Twilight (1943) (image 40) to the fragment of the scene of Baptism shown in image 39 and then to the fragment of the scene of The Second Coming shown in image 41, we acknowl- edge yet again the existence of a tangible aesthetic nexus. In effect, the combination of these three images visually demonstrates how Kandinsky’s Twilight conducts an aes- thetic dialogue with the transcendental content of Late Byzantine painting – which stems precisely from the tendency towards abstraction.
Sky Blue (1940; discussed in the previous chapter) and Twilight (1943) belong to a group of Kandinsky’s aesthetically most mature works, and together with the last paint- ing which he recorded in his list of completed works, Tempered Elan (1944) (image 42), inform us of a previously unexamined level of influence of Late Byzantine painting on Kandinsky. Essentially, Kandinsky insightfully selected and absorbed that which in Late Byzantine painting is aesthetically most delicate and mature, and artistically most pro- found: the culturally and spiritually specific, transcendental perception of the created world.
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