Old Age 1936 - 1937

Mikuláš Galanda made this watercolour, Old Age, at some point in his short life. I love how the washes of colour pool and settle in the paper, creating the form in such a loose and intuitive way. The figure is defined by a pale yellow outline, a continuous, wandering line that reminds me of those ‘join the dots’ puzzles we did as kids. This line separates the figure from a shadow cast in grey washes. This shadow suggests a feeling of enclosure, pressing in on the figure, but this in turn is set against a more open, brighter ground. Look at how the ink pools in the negative space between the figure’s legs, this area of concentrated ink becomes an anchor for the whole piece. The work evokes something of Picasso's blue period, particularly in its melancholy and simplified forms. Galanda is part of an ongoing conversation about how line and colour can evoke emotion and suggest complex inner states. There’s an openness to his work, a refusal to be pinned down to one singular meaning, that I find really compelling.