In the early 1920s, Ivan Kliun painted a series of works that he named "Cosmic Images". One of these "images" is the painterly composition "Red light, spherical construction". The painting reflects the attraction of many artists of the Russian Avant-garde for theories on astronomical phenomena, their interest in the future conquest of space and the understanding of the nature of the universe. The light, here, originates from a central source of energy and spreads circularly and intensely on the canvas. The painter uses black oil paints and successive layers of red color and manages to approach his initial purpose, which is to create a kind of self-illuminated painting. Red indicates the color of the revolution, but primarily it signifies the driving force of life.
[Ivan Kliun, “Red Light”, early 1920s, MOMus - Museum of Modern Art-Costakis collection]