Two Madonnas 1932

Cyprián Majerník made this painting, "Two Madonnas," in Paris, and look at how he's just letting the paint do its thing. It's all soft edges and blurry forms, like a memory or a dream. The surface is thick, almost gloppy in places, but then thin and washy in others. You can see how he's layered the colors, letting them peek through each other. See that one red blob in the bottom left? It’s not carefully rendered but it gives the whole image a kick. It's like he's saying, "Hey, I'm just here to play with paint." And that playfulness is what makes it so engaging. Majerník reminds me of Chaim Soutine, another painter who wasn’t afraid to get messy and emotional with his work. It’s this beautiful, ongoing conversation artists have, each one building on what came before, and adding their own weird, wonderful twist.