National Theatre I., 2025

Michael Slutsker painted Prague's National Theatre on a wet autumn day, the grand building rising pale and gold above the street while a red tram rounds the corner below. This is a small oil on canvas, 40 by 50 centimetres, from 2025. The trees along the embankment have turned, dropping spots of orange into a mostly grey scene, and the rain-soaked road reflects the tram and the sky in long vertical streaks. A couple of figures cross in the middle distance. It is an everyday view of a famous landmark, painted loosely and quickly, with the weather doing as much as the architecture.