Vajda Lajos Rostos Tagolt Formák 1940 1940

Vajda Lajos made this striking black and white piece, "Rostos Tagolt Formák," around 1940. Just look at the way it has come into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I can't help but think about what it must have been like to be the artist making this work. What he might have been thinking when he made it? The texture, achieved through these deep scratches, suggests a deep engagement with the material itself. It's almost as if Vajda is not just depicting a form but wrestling with it. That mark-making, those deep gouges, seem to communicate a feeling, an intention, a meaning. It puts me in mind of other artists and the ongoing conversation they have, exchanging ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. This, to me, feels like a painting rooted in embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.