Liggende figuur voor een ornamentale ruit 1915

Curator: I find myself completely drawn into the quiet stillness of this work. Editor: That's a wonderful way to describe Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst's drawing, "Liggende figuur voor een ornamentale ruit," or "Reclining Figure Before an Ornamental Pane." Created around 1915, this pen and ink drawing possesses a beautiful sense of elegant repose. It's part of the Rijksmuseum's collection, a treasure trove of visual storytelling. Curator: Reclining indeed. She’s dreamy, almost Ophelia-like. Do you think it was preparatory? There's a freedom and confidence in the line, a real art nouveau flourish in those stylized curves, it feels intimate in its making. Editor: Definitely feels preparatory; like he was letting the subconscious roam free before anchoring the final design. But observe the visual grammar: her gaze, slightly downward, and the cascading shapes around her body, hint at a sorrowful subtext. Even her repose feels burdened. Curator: Burdens can be beautiful, you know. There is the symbolic language that surrounds her, those stylized forms hinting at Art Nouveau sensibilities, echoing natural forms, stylized vines almost consuming her... I like that contrast, she appears peaceful despite the constraints suggested by the sharp geometric diamond, the window even, that contains her figure. Editor: I find the ornamental frame fascinating; it recalls a stylized rose window. A flattened, graphic rose window that contains this solitary figure in its symbolic order, speaking to cycles, and perhaps, a return to some past state. And those heavy, inky lines – they really solidify her feeling of enclosure. Curator: The diamond cuts into that, a reminder that beauty contains pain, like thorns. A window... could also offer a space to dream or watch what we might miss, if we remain sleeping, caught in the decorative impulse, of Art Nouveau excess and indulgence. Editor: The piece is such a potent meditation on melancholy, on stillness masking turmoil. The stark black and white choice creates an indelible impact—visually bold, and yet so quiet and intimate. Curator: I think that potent meditation can work on the eyes of the viewers too. There’s something hypnotic, beckoning that stays.