The Good Samaritan 1940

Cyprián Majerník, in his "The Good Samaritan," seems to have laid down thin washes of earthy browns, greens, and creams to conjure this scene. I can almost feel him tilting the board, letting the paint run and pool, building up the image organically. I wonder if Majerník was thinking of Van Gogh here—the way the paint is pulled, the rawness of feeling. The empathy in the hunched figure of the Samaritan is palpable. He holds the frail body tenderly, a stark contrast to the indifference of the landscape. Even the donkey seems to be looking away, lost in thought. These artists are all in conversation, each responding to what came before, twisting it, and wrestling with the same old questions of how we live, how we suffer, and how we might care for one another. Painting, in its ambiguity, can offer us a space to reflect on these enduring concerns.