Restless animals 1936

Mikuláš Galanda made this watercolor painting of cows with a kind of earthy palette, a real process of layering to get the right mood. I love how Galanda handles the paint here. It's so fluid, like the pigment is suspended in water, each brushstroke deliberate yet free. See how the bodies of the cows are rendered with these blocks of ochre, and the red patches are almost like wounds, or stigmata. It's so evocative and loaded. Then there's the sky, that smeared cloud, the brush barely touching the paper, like he's chasing a fleeting thought. There's a kinship with someone like Emil Nolde, who also used watercolors to express a primal connection to the land and its creatures. But Galanda has his own voice, a quieter, more intimate tone, and reminds us that art is always in conversation, each artist building upon the visions of those who came before. Ultimately it is up to us to bring our own interpretation.