Mother 1933

Mikuláš Galanda's painting, Mother, probably involved a lot of looking, and a lot of feeling. The color and the shapes, so simple and direct, hit you right away. I can imagine Galanda starting with that red ground, a powerful emotional field. Then, he lets these pale, rounded forms emerge, mother and child entwined. The paint looks smooth, like he's caressing the canvas. Look at the way the mother’s arm curves around the baby, such tenderness in that simple gesture. You can feel the weight of the child, the warmth of their bodies pressed together. It reminds me a little of Paula Modersohn-Becker's mother and child paintings. There's a similar focus on the raw, visceral experience of motherhood. Painting like this, it's about distilling the essence of a feeling, not just representing what you see. It’s about intimacy.