Pan-Tree (2)
Xul Solar
,Watercolor on paper, 35.5 × 23.5cm.
In 1950, Xul Solar introduced new subject matter into his works: the pan-trees or universal cabalistic-astrological trees, and the collection contains three watercolor with this theme. The Tree of Life from the Cabala (also denominated the “Sephirothic Tree” or “The 32 Paths of Knowledge”) with its ten spheres that inspired Xul is a symbolic representation used in order to comprehend the relationships of the Universe, in particular those related to human interaction and the mechanisms for serving the Eternal. It deals with relationships between mystic symbols. Xul Solar painted all the versions of the pan-tree while maintaining a structure with the three branches or vertical columns of the tree from the Cabala, but modifying the number of sacred sephiroths (the ten sephiroths are related to one another through twenty-two paths that correspond to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet). In his paintings, the sephiroths are planets and there are twelve, instead of ten. Xul altered the design to adapt it to the astrological system, as he did with all his inventions. The change also has to do with his project of replacing the decimal number system with a duodecimal one, the same system he used to date many of his works (numbering from 0 to 10 and adding two more symbols: “Q” and “&”).