Untitled (Three Fish) c. 1935

Curator: Standing before us is "Untitled (Three Fish)", a mixed-media collage piece from around 1935 by Márta Aczél. Editor: My immediate thought? Dreamlike. The blurry layers give a sense of a memory, something not quite grasped. Curator: Aczél seems to be playing with juxtaposing elements, quite literally. She brings together the three-dimensional, almost cartoonish ceramic fish with a flatter, more illustrative map and what looks to be photographs, creating a surprising tension. Editor: The fish, though, they really stand out. They possess this weighty, playful symbolism—evoking not just marine life but the subconscious, dreams, journeys. I'm struck by their form. They appear so docile and at ease despite floating above images of conflict below. The darker patterns on their body have a symbolic quality as well. Curator: Agreed. Given the political climate of the 1930s, the underlying visual collage of war conflicts feels intentional. The composition subtly contrasts innocent beauty against world upheaval. Aczél was living through quite turbulent times, which, for women especially, often meant being excluded from professional spheres, art included. Editor: And the superimposition reinforces this feeling of layers, societal forces at play beneath the surface. The image becomes a meditation on innocence versus the loss of it in the face of power structures. Curator: Absolutely. Aczél's "Untitled (Three Fish)" isn’t just a whimsical arrangement. It’s a symbolic space where the personal and the political subtly intersect. Editor: And the fish swim onward, symbols that remind us of navigating life, regardless of what maps say or wars erupt. The simplicity is what allows the viewer a certain agency, like they might also find safe passage, wherever life takes them.