Group of children 1931

Tadeusz Makowski made this painting of a group of children with, I'm guessing, oil on canvas. I wonder if Makowski, when he made this, felt a bit like he was playing? The children's faces are doll-like and mask-like, rendered with these simple strokes. Then there is the way he builds up the image with thick dark strokes that feel joyful and free. When I look at the black strokes surrounding the children I think about his process and I imagine he was thinking about childhood, memory, loss, and maybe even a bit of fear. Look at the brown and yellow landscape in the background! He's really playing here. The painting feels related to other early twentieth-century artists, like Munch, for example. Artists are in constant conversation, you know, each one building on what came before. Ultimately, I'm left feeling that this is an invitation to make up my own stories, not to receive a fixed meaning.