Vajda Lajos Madárház, 1935 1935

Vajda Lajos made this work, Madárház, in 1935, and it seems to be a drawing using pencil or ink. The palette is monochromatic - different shades of grey build the geometric composition. I imagine Lajos standing at his easel, perhaps in a contemplative mood, sketching out the shapes. What was he thinking about? What was on his mind as he reduced these forms to a bare minimum of marks, a simple house for the birds? It reminds me of Paul Klee in a way, or maybe some Surrealist art. The house feels both real and imagined. The figure to the right seems a little lost in space; a possible reference to folk traditions perhaps? The various shapes and forms almost seem to be floating in the air. I find myself thinking about the many ways that art echoes and converses with itself across time. It makes me wonder how artists of today will continue this conversation, too.