Street Scene in Prague 1981

Maria Bozoky made this watercolour painting, Street Scene in Prague, at an unknown date. Look at how she conjures a world with such breezy marks! Everything feels provisional, like a sketch, but somehow complete. Bozoky’s painting is all about the surface: the quick, gestural strokes of the brush, the way the colours bleed and mingle. There’s a real looseness to the whole thing. I love how the trees are just scribbles of colour and the buildings lean and tilt with a kind of charming awkwardness. The palette is muted, mostly blues, greens, and browns, with these jolts of red in the buildings. It’s all so immediate and unpretentious. Notice the way she renders the figure of the woman walking away from us. With just a few strokes, she captures the essence of a person in motion. Bozoky reminds me a little of Raoul Dufy, with her light touch and her love of capturing a scene in a few quick strokes. Her work reminds us that art doesn’t always have to be about perfection. Sometimes, it’s the imperfections that make it so beautiful.