Drowned 1929

Mikuláš Galanda made this evocative drawing, Drowned, using ink and pencil. Look closely at the woman's dark hand. You can see the details of each finger, so precise and deliberate. I wonder what Galanda was thinking as he was making it? Maybe he was thinking about the contrast between light and dark, between the living and the dead. The fishes that swim around the floating figure also create a sense of eeriness. I love the little touches of detail, the delicate lines around the eyes and hair. It’s like he’s inviting us to contemplate a story, to consider the boundary between the surface and the depths. Galanda was inspired by the avant-garde movements of his time. You could see the influence of Surrealism and Cubism in this piece. And yet, he infused it with his own unique sensibility, his own personal vision. It reminds us that artists are always in conversation with one another across time, borrowing, transforming, and creating something entirely new.