Sisters 1936

Vajda Lajos painted "Sisters" with what looks like oil on canvas, though the exact date escapes us. The ochre background color, just peeking through, gives it a warm, aged feeling, like a sepia photograph faded with time. And the figures! They're composed of simple shapes, like they're emerging, layer by layer. Thick, dark outlines define their forms, almost like stained glass. I love the textures here. You can see the brushstrokes, especially in the shading of the clothing, and that tells you about the process. It's not about hiding the hand, but revealing it. And those faces, the flat areas of color, make you look at the two women as structures as much as people, like they're ancient. It's like Lajos is talking to painters like Fernand Léger, taking their language but whispering it with his own accent. There's a sense of mystery here, a feeling that there's more than meets the eye. Isn't that what art is all about?