Under the cross 1935

Mikuláš Galanda made ‘Under the Cross’ with paint, or maybe ink, who knows? It's the kind of piece where the making feels really direct and present. There’s something so raw about the marks here, like Galanda was really wrestling with the image, figuring it out as he went along. The way the colours are laid down, kind of flat but with these juicy black outlines, it's like he's building the picture from the outside in. And that red, that’s where it really hits you. Just a few strokes, but they carry so much weight, don’t they? You could put this next to work by Kirchner or Heckel and see something of that German Expressionist spirit, that intensity. But Galanda brings his own thing to it. It's about trying to get something down, even if it's messy or unresolved. It’s a good reminder that art isn’t about answers, it’s about the questions.