Monument 1931

František Hudeček made this watercolor painting, Monument, with layered washes and detailed linework in an unknown year. The color palette is earthy – muted browns and creams set the stage for the unexpected appearance of these fleshy pink forms. I can imagine him, brush in hand, coaxing these bizarre shapes into existence. They look kind of tentacular, maybe even intestinal? But then there’s this architectural element behind them, a row of columns that lead your eye up to the sky. That central cone reminds me of Yves Tanguy, a formal device used to create surrealist tension. Look how Hudeček uses thin glazes to build up tone, defining the light and shadow of the forms. The longer I look, the more I see the artist feeling his way through the painting, almost blindly composing a world we’ve never seen before. It’s like he’s saying, "I’m not sure what this is, but I’m going to find it through the act of painting." And isn’t that what art is all about?