Crying women 1938

Curator: This is Mikuláš Galanda's “Crying women,” created in 1938. Galanda was a key figure in the Slovak Modernist movement. He produced this work as a drawing. Editor: Gosh, what a raw expression of pain! It feels incredibly vulnerable, almost like peering into someone’s most private sorrow. The stark red against the muted background... it really grabs you, doesn’t it? Curator: Absolutely. Consider how the visual language used echoes folk art traditions, specifically his application of drawing. Galanda, although very forward-thinking, often draws influence from such techniques which are easily accessible for most artists who could produce, teach or curate. Editor: It's the stylization, isn’t it? The exaggerated shapes, the teardrops almost like solid objects… they turn pure emotion into something almost graphic and monumental. The hands holding those peculiar shapes--are those hearts? Curator: Possibly. There is certainly that interpretation; considering the role the artist had among others of the same type that the meaning will not have come from some insular tradition. Also take into account this was made in 1938 with the ever escalating issue of WW2 becoming clearer to all of the people across Europe, these figures being red may not strictly reference emotions of 'the heart'. Editor: It's so evocative! It’s that tension that draws me in, the rawness of emotion clashing with this simplified, almost cartoonish form. Do you think that choice to stylize in this way dilutes, amplifies, or deflects from the underlying sentiment of sadness? Curator: Well that comes from two places I believe; it reduces labour and the necessity to reproduce accurately - also the abstraction itself asks the viewer to project. Editor: In any case this piece makes me deeply empathetic. I feel moved by the artist's portrayal, even with the simplified construction, in the midst of personal or worldwide events! Curator: It serves as a stark reminder of that collective grief felt throughout this period in time! Thanks for helping make this easier to consider. Editor: Likewise!