Horse and Bull 1936

Cyprián Majerník made this drawing, Horse and Bull, in 1936. The urgent, scribbled lines suggest a dance of mark making, as though the artist’s hand barely kept up with the vision in his mind. I imagine Majerník capturing movement, caught up in the drama of the bullfight. A flurry of lines describes the anxious energy of the animals, contrasting against the isolated figure of the matador, who stands calmly in the upper corner of the page. The horse’s eye is emphasized with a dark oval, suggesting the fear and vulnerability of the animal, as it is caught in this deadly spectacle. Majerník was preoccupied with scenes of social alienation and human suffering. The Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, the same year that Horse and Bull was made. Perhaps this drawing anticipates the violence and torment to come. It reminds me of Picasso’s Guernica, in its emotional intensity, conveyed through the suffering of animals. Like all paintings, this drawing is a conversation, speaking across time.