Editing Xul Solar (section)

===''Fiordo'', 1943, tempera on paper mounted on board===

The severe, bleak, landscape in ''Fiordo'' suggests ancient Chinese and Japanese prints. Narrow mountains with undulating edges stab up from placid water. Here, Xul communicates his affinity with Asian forms and, in turn, ideas. The ladders that criss-cross the mountains, are described by Gradowczyk as symbolizing spirituality, both of the ascendant nature as well as with the possibility of descent.<ref name="Gradowczyk"/> The single figure in the bottom corner suggests a hermetic existence, a difficult spiritual path that is mirrored in the steep staircases. The figure holds a book in one hand and what appears to be a lantern in the other, representing study and guidance. Xul tells his viewer that while spiritual pursuit can be arduous, others have established a path, and they point the way. A structure appears atop one mountain, ostensibly a temple. None of the ladders lead directly to the mountain peak, however. The path twists and turns, and the doors cut into the mountainsides represent the stages, and possible moments of being waylaid, as one endeavors spiritually.

From 1943 and 1944, Xul's painting was influenced by his thoughts on the Second World War.<ref name="Gradowczyk"/> The sudden, powerful emergence of inhumanity and the potential effects on the world at large wore very heavily on the artist.<ref name="Gradowczyk"/> Gradowczyk posits that "Xul reached his highest point of artistic expressivity in these ascetic paintings whose theme corresponded to that anguishing reality".<ref name="Gradowczyk"/>