Combing 1931

Mikuláš Galanda made this figure, "Combing", using, it seems, watercolour or gouache, where the liquid quality of the paint is allowed to breathe into the figure, creating these subtle gradations. The surface is a bit like skin, isn't it? Those rose and blush tones, softly blended, could be the flush of a warm body. And see how the edges aren’t hard, but kind of dissolve into the background? The paint is applied so thinly in places, like around the outline of the arm, and this feels like a caress, a tender, fleeting touch. I notice the arm raised above the head, not actually combing, but maybe just about to. It reminds me a little of some of Picasso’s neoclassical figures, but with a lighter, airier touch. And both, of course, owe a debt to the old masters. But Galanda is doing something unique here, using the fluidity of the medium to evoke both form and feeling. It’s not about perfection, but about process, about the beauty of the gesture itself. And what is painting, if not an ongoing conversation?