Still Life 1930s

Cyprián Majerník made this still life with ink, probably on paper; it looks like it came fast. I imagine him standing at his easel, brush in hand, urgently trying to capture the objects in front of him. The marks are bold, economical. There's something so vulnerable about the objects he’s chosen; a painting within the painting of a hunched figure, and a guitar perched precariously. The guitar looks almost like a cartoon. The way he’s built up this image with layers of strokes, one on top of the other. Those dark, sweeping lines suggest a mood, maybe something melancholic or uneasy. Like he was thinking about what he could leave out, rather than what he could add. It’s cool how artists can communicate feeling, not just with color or form, but with the actual gesture of their hand. It feels like I'm seeing him in the act of seeing. And when I see a painting like this, it reminds me that making art is about being in a dialogue with the world and with other artists, trying to find new ways to express something that feels true.