Women on the seashore 1935

Mikuláš Galanda created "Women on the Seashore" using pencil on paper. Galanda lived through a time of political and social upheaval in Europe, deeply marked by the rise of nationalism and the looming shadows of war. This drawing shows two nude women at the sea. The standing figure is holding what appears to be a towel. The lines are simple, the figures are graceful. Galanda's work often explored themes of identity and the human condition within the context of his Slovakian heritage and the broader European experience. This meant challenging the traditional representation of women in art and society. Galanda was part of the interwar avant-garde in Slovakia, and his art offered new ways of perceiving the world, steeped in the tensions between tradition and modernity. This drawing asks us to consider what it meant to be a woman in the interwar years, and how artists sought to create alternative narratives which went against the grain of the prevailing norms.