monotype, paper, 88 × 62.5 cm
The figure in this monotype indicates the increasingly expressive style that Jitka Valová (and her sister Květa) began to develop from the late 1970s and early 80s. Jitka Valová’s work at this time still displayed the typical fragility, subtle form and elongation of the figures. However, within the boundaries of the figure she depicted richer, more dynamically expressive content, transitioning into abstract signs. In the 1980s the Valová sisters, fatigued with the entrenched totalitarian regime, moved towards more expressive themes; besides Jumping Up (1980, also an earlier version dating from 1978), their works from this period included Screaming Out, which both sisters painted in their own versions (1980).