This Painting Is Actually Insane

[00:00:02]In the middle of the night, deep within a forest, far from any path, a fire burns. Around the fire, a group of women dances. They are naked and their bodies move to the rhythm of a music that seems to come from somewhere else. Some raise their arms toward the sky. Others spin with their hair loose in the air, but none of them seem to notice they [music] are being watched. At the edge of the scene, hidden among the shadows, there is a creature, half man, half goat. This creature holds a flute in its hands and it is its music that guides [music] every movement of this dance. This painting was created more than 100 years ago by an artist you have never heard of. Today, it is impossible to see it in person as it has remained in a private collection for years, but the most curious thing about this painting is not who created it, but what meaning this unsettling ritual could have had more than [music] 100 years ago.

[00:00:58]To understand this painting, we first need to go back to Greek mythology.

[00:01:02]According to the Greeks, Pan was the god of wild nature, of the forests, the shepherds, the mountains, and [music] everything that exists beyond the reach of civilization. His horns, his goat legs, and his half-human, [music] half-animal body made his appearance unmistakable. They considered him one of the oldest deities in their pantheon and it was even [music] said that this creature was already wandering the forests before the other gods were born.

[00:01:29]The instrument that always accompanies him is the syrinx, also known as Pan's flute. According to the myth, its music had a power that no mortal could resist.

[00:01:38]It is said that his music was not heard, but felt. His melodies were a direct call to the oldest and wildest part of any creature that heard them and the ones who answered that call were the nymphs. The nymphs were not simply beautiful women as later art ended up portraying them. In the original mythology, they were divine spirits of nature. Every river had its own, and in every forest, every mountain, and every spring we could find one. They were the life force of the Earth embodied in feminine form. Sacred presences that the Greeks honored with offerings and rituals, since earning their favor meant earning the favor of nature itself.

[00:02:17]Now, art history is full of nymphs. We could find thousands of paintings spread across museums all over the world, but here is something worth saying openly.

[00:02:27]During the 19th century, mythology often functioned as a facade. The art salons of Europe had a kind of unwritten rule in which the female nude was only acceptable if it was wrapped in a classical pretext. A naked woman was a scandal, but a naked nymph was high culture. And under that rule, nymphs multiplied by the thousands. The artists of this era turned these creatures into the perfect vehicle for producing sensual images while avoiding criticism of their paintings. That is why when we look at this work, we can see it is completely different from the rest. It does not follow that tradition at all.

[00:03:04]None of these women are looking at us.

[00:03:06]None of them are posing. Some even have their backs turned to us completely.

[00:03:11]These women are completely absorbed in their dance as if we did not exist. And there is no erotic connotation here beyond the esoteric and the spiritual.

[00:03:21]Something worth keeping in mind is that this work was painted around 1920. We must remember that the first decades of the 20th century were a time of deep fascination with occultism, esotericism, and ancient spiritual traditions. While science and industry were transforming the world at a speed never seen before, part of Western society began to look backward toward the ancient. Secret societies dedicated to the study of magic and mysticism flourished in Europe and the United States. Spiritualism filled the salons [music] and interest in paganism in the religions that came before Christianity resurfaced with a strength not seen in centuries. In that world, the figure of Pan experienced an extraordinary revival. The writers and occultists of the era turned him into a symbol. Pan represented everything modern civilization had repressed, instinct, [music] the connection with nature, and the wildness that lives inside every human being. His name in Greek means all, and for the mystics of the early 20th century, Pan represented the totality of nature and the life force of the world before it was tamed. Because of this, rituals around the fire, nocturnal dances, and communion with the spirits of nature stopped being simple mythological tales and became [music] practices that certain circles tried to revive. With all of this in mind, let us now look closely at the work. As is evident, the fire occupies the center of the composition. In the esoteric tradition, fire does not represent merely a source of light. It is the element of transformation, [music] what purifies, what consumes the old to make way for the [music] new. So, dancing around the fire, as has been done in countless cultures throughout history, was a form of communion with higher forces. [music] The nymphs spin around it forming a circle, the sacred shape par excellence.

[00:05:18]A circle has no beginning and no end, and it is also considered the symbol of eternity and union. And then there is the light. Each body receives the glow of the fire differently. Those facing it burn in golden tones. Those with their backs turned become practically silhouettes. Technically, painting this is extraordinarily difficult. These are bodies in motion >> [music] >> illuminated by an unstable source of light, each one from a different angle.

[00:05:45]But beyond the technique, [music] that light serves a symbolic function. The fire decides what we see and what remains hidden. As in every ritual, there are things that are revealed and things that are kept. In the lower left corner, Pan presides over the ceremony.

[00:06:02]In the painting, he is almost invisible.

[00:06:04]He does not dominate the scene or chase anyone as other artists so often depicted him. Here, he simply plays his flute because his power lies not in his presence, but in his music. In that ancient rhythm, the nymphs follow without needing to see him. And now, you are probably asking yourself something completely inevitable, something we have not yet talked about. Who painted this?

[00:06:28]But before revealing the artist behind this magnificent work, I would like to remind you that if you would like to have it in your collection, you can now purchase it from our website. In our catalog, you will find this and more than 1,000 other carefully selected historical works so you can begin your own art collection in your own home.

[00:06:47]Shipping is completely free worldwide, and by purchasing from the store, you will be supporting me enormously in continuing to create videos like this every week. I will leave the link in the description so you can place your order once you finish watching the video. As I was saying, the person who painted this work more than 100 years ago is Josef Tominec. This man was born in 1889 in a small town in what is now the Czech Republic, and there is practically no information about him. The little that is known is that he trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, and that in 1910, he emigrated to the United States, where he settled in Chicago. It is also known that Tominec was a follower of William Adolphe Bouguereau, the great French academic master we have already analyzed on this channel, from whom he inherited an absolute command of anatomy, and that almost supernatural ability to paint human skin. But, while Bouguereau painted his nymphs in broad daylight filled with sensuality, Tománek took his into the darkness of the forest illuminated only by fire. Tománek is an artist who never achieved the fame of the great masters. He spent most of his career in Chicago painting for private collectors, and unfortunately, this work follows that same fate. Today, it remains in a private collection far from the public, and it will probably stay that way for the rest of history. This is a painting that very few people have been able to see in person, and that sadly, we may never get to see in person either, which makes the fact of being able to contemplate it today, even through a screen, almost a privilege.

[00:08:24]Thank you so much for watching the video until the end. I would love for you to leave me in the comments what feeling this painting gives you, and whether you had seen it before.

[00:08:33]As always, thank you to everyone who supports the channel by leaving a like and a comment, and I will see you in the next video.