Vajda Lajos, Whirling Space, 1940 1940

Vajda Lajos made 'Whirling Space' in 1940, and when you look closely, you can imagine him there, wrestling with the pen, trying to get this image out of his head and onto the page. The palette is dark, brown ink, and the marks build and build until faces emerge. They remind me of the swirls of Van Gogh's skies, and the grotesque masks of Ensor. I wonder if he was looking at those artists? See that one vortex of marks over there, those eyes staring out? What was Vajda feeling when he put those down? Was he scared? Exhilarated? I bet it was a bit of both. You know, we're all in conversation with each other, all the time. Artists are always looking and learning, taking and making. And that's what makes art so exciting, it’s this ongoing, ever-evolving dialogue.