Girl with a jug 1932 - 1936

Mikuláš Galanda's "Girl with a Jug" is a drawing made with colored pencils in red and blue, where the artist's hand has moved with a delicate yet confident touch. I can imagine Galanda hunched over this drawing, carefully building up the form of the girl and the jug with layers of coloured lines. The jug nestles so perfectly in her hands, it's like the drawing is holding its breath. I think he’s trying to capture some essence of purity here. And aren’t those soft blue lines wonderful? They create volume and depth, while that touch of red around her neck is a powerful statement. This piece has the echoes of Picasso and maybe Derain, filtered through a central European sensibility. The longer I look, the more I see echoes of other artists and eras. But mostly, I see Galanda, his sensitivity, and his search for form. Artists engage in an ongoing dialogue across time, inspiring one another’s creativity and offering new ways of seeing and experiencing the world.