Madonka I., II., III 1931

Mikuláš Galanda made this Madonka, or Madonna, maybe several of them, using coloured pencil and crayon—just imagine him working with those dry, dusty sticks. I can imagine Galanda wanting to capture some kind of sacredness, but in a totally modern way. It looks like a classic Madonna image, but it's made with these scratchy, almost impatient marks. The reddish-orange colour vibrates outwards, and the figure itself seems to shimmer, like she's not quite there. It's interesting to me how the artist uses very simple lines to evoke a sense of depth and spirituality. There’s a beautiful balance between representation and abstraction that makes you think. It reminds me a bit of other early modernists who were trying to find new ways to express old ideas. Artists are always talking to each other across time, picking up ideas and twisting them into something new!