Editing Xul Solar (section)

==Work and interests==
Solar's paintings are mainly sculptures, often using striking contrasts and bright colours, typically in relatively small formats. His visual style seems equidistant between [[Wassily Kandinsky]] and [[Paul Klee]] on the one hand and [[Marc Chagall]] on the other. He also worked in some extremely unorthodox artistic media, such as modifying pianos, including a version with three rows of keys.

The poet [[Fernando Demaría]] in an essay "Xul Solar y Paul Klee" (published in the Argentine magazine ''Lyra'', 1971<!--, and quoted extensively at [http://www.xulsolar.org.ar/xulxul.html]{{deadlink|date=December 2022}} -->), wrote, "It is not easy for the human spirit to elevate itself from astrology to astronomy, but we would be making a mistake if we forget that an authentic astrologer, like Xul Solar, is close to the source of the stars... The primitivism of Xul Solar is anterior to the appearance of the Gods. The Gods correspond to a more evolved form of energy."

Solar had a strong interest in astrology; at least as early as 1939 he began to draw [[astrological chart]]s. He also had an interest in [[Buddhism]] and believed strongly in [[reincarnation]]. He also developed his own set of [[tarot]] cards. His paintings reflect his religious beliefs, featuring objects such as stairs, roads and the representation of God.

He invented two fully elaborated imaginary languages, symbols from which figure in his paintings, and was also an exponent of [[duodecimal]] mathematics. He said of himself "I am maestro of a writing no one reads yet." One of his invented languages was called "Neo Criollo", a poetic fusion of Portuguese and Spanish, which he reportedly would frequently use as a spoken language in talking to people. He also invented a "Pan Lingua", which aspired to be a world language linking mathematics, music, astrology and the visual arts, an idea reminiscent of [[Hermann Hesse]]'s "[[The Glass Bead Game|glass bead game]]". Indeed, games were a particular interest of his, including his own invented [[Chess variant|version of chess]], or more precisely ''"non-chess".''<ref>[[Cecilia Vicuña]], [http://wordswithoutborders.org/article/co-ecos-astri-xul-solar-of-buenos-aires/ Co ecos Astri: Xul Solar of Buenos Aires], (trans. Suzanne Jill Levine).</ref>

Outside of Argentina, Solar may best be known for his association with Borges. In 1940, he figured as a minor character in Borges's semi-fictional "[[Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius]]"; in 1944, he illustrated a limited edition (300 copies) of ''Un modelo para la muerte'', written by Borges and [[Adolfo Bioy Casares]], writing together under the pseudonym [[B. Suárez Lynch]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xulsolar.org.ar/xulibril.html |title=Museo Xul Solar - LIBROS ILUSTRADOS |access-date=29 February 2004 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041009140216/http://www.xulsolar.org.ar/xulibril.html |archive-date=9 October 2004 }}</ref> He and Borges had common interests in German [[expressionism|expressionistic]] poetry, the works of [[Emanuel Swedenborg]], [[Algernon Charles Swinburne]] and [[William Blake]], and [[Eastern philosophy]], especially [[Buddhism]] and the ''[[I Ching]]''.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.2cyberwhelm.org/diversity/express/htm/Borges.htm
 |title=Borges y Xul Solar: mundos imaginarios
|author=Isela M. Verdugo |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040626092250/http://www.2cyberwhelm.org/diversity/express/htm/Borges.htm |archive-date = 26 June 2004}}</ref>