Under the cross 1935

Mikuláš Galanda made this piece, Under the Cross, with paint and ink. Looking at the texture, the way it’s applied, I imagine Galanda working quickly, intuitively—trying to capture the emotional intensity of the moment. I see the influence of expressionism in those bold, black outlines and simplified forms, especially in the face and hands. The red and brown palette, the drips—all contribute to a feeling of rawness. I wonder if Galanda was thinking about earlier artists dealing with religious subjects. Maybe he was riffing on those ideas, pushing them in a new direction with his own set of marks. The black outline gives way to the finer, rapidly applied, interior striations. The result is raw, but not unconsidered. Artists are always in conversation with one another. The act of painting itself becomes a form of inquiry. It's a way of seeing and experiencing the world, full of ambiguity and open to multiple interpretations.