Studies van planten 1876 - 1951

Curator: Here at the Rijksmuseum we have "Studies van planten" by Theo Nieuwenhuis, created sometime between 1876 and 1951, a watercolour and pencil drawing on paper. Editor: It's like stepping into a forgotten herbal, a ghostly collection of flora. The light washes, the tentative lines—it gives the impression of catching a fleeting moment, like sketching in a field as the wind turns. Curator: Botanical art often bridges the worlds of science and symbolism. Plants have always held a potent symbolic weight, haven't they? Each meticulously drawn leaf hints at deeper meanings. Editor: You see the world through a symbolic lens. I'm immediately drawn to the composition—the balance of rendered and sketched elements. There's a clear emphasis on line and form, almost as if Nieuwenhuis is deconstructing the plants before our eyes. Curator: Perhaps Nieuwenhuis was exploring the ephemerality of life? Plants springing forth, blooming, then fading back into the earth…a perfect metaphor for human existence. And the choice of watercolour only enhances that sense of delicate, transient beauty. The medium is perfect for capturing light, emotion, memory, and time passing. Editor: For me, it's the economy of the mark-making. Look at the barest suggestion of form in some areas. It’s not about photorealistic accuracy. Nieuwenhuis uses the inherent properties of watercolour—its transparency, its tendency to bleed—to define the forms. Curator: I agree. There is something very raw in these pieces and maybe that is how one connects and begins to assign more symbolism. The rawness feels very emotive in a way. Editor: Precisely, perhaps the bareness allows the composition as a whole to breathe, allows the viewer space to apply meaning, just as the artist must have taken great artistic space and license with this particular rendering of each botanical study. Thank you. Curator: A thought-provoking discussion. Thank you for the engagement on the interplay of symbolism and raw emotion within Nieuwenhuis’ botanical drawings.