Bandits 1932

Mikuláš Galanda made this painting, Bandits, with oil paint, in an unknown year. I imagine him in front of the canvas, considering the shapes of these figures, the weight of their bodies against the land. The color palette seems to be built from gentle greens and creams. The figures almost blend into the hills behind them, as if they're part of the landscape itself. But they're also set apart from the landscape - one is made of it and the other is not. The brushwork is really smooth, almost airbrushed, which gives it a kind of dreamy, otherworldly quality. The title 'Bandits' makes me wonder what Galanda might have been thinking about when he painted this. Were they outlaws or just ordinary people trying to survive? I love how painting can hold so many stories and questions within its surface. You see the history of modernism here, but also something eternal.