Cossak Mamay 1960

Alla Horska made this striking painting of Cossak Mamay with what looks like gouache, or maybe tempera. You can see the layering of color, the green over blue, the red over orange. The paint handling looks so direct, like she knew exactly what she wanted. Looking closely, you see that the black lines aren’t just outlines. They’re shapes in themselves, boldly defining the figure and instrument. They seem both structural and expressive, maybe like a stained-glass window? It’s interesting to consider Horska's work in relation to that of other Ukrainian artists. Her work, like that of Alexandra Exter, or Maria Prymachenko shows a similar interest in bright colours and flattened forms that seem to embrace both folk art and modernist idioms. But, like so much art, it ultimately resists easy categorization. There is so much emotion in his expression.