Still Life 1930s

Cyprián Majerník made this still life drawing with ink on paper. He’s not fussing about with blending or shading here, it’s all about the stark contrast of bold black marks on that creamy paper, which gives the piece an immediacy, a sense of being in the moment of creation. The physicality of the ink is really present; you can almost smell that intense inky aroma. Majerník isn’t trying to hide anything, the process is right there, on the surface. Look at the way he’s rendered the outline of the guitar, it’s almost like a child’s drawing, but it's full of energy. The forms are broken down into these raw, elemental marks. Majerník reminds me of artists like George Grosz. Both artists manage to distill a potent sense of expressionism with a very limited palette. There’s a dialogue happening across time, as artists grapple with similar challenges, and find new ways to see and represent the world around them. Ultimately it's all about conversation, one mark at a time.