Schoorsteen en schilderijen in het Paushuize te Utrecht 1911

This photograph by an anonymous artist captures a chimney and paintings in the Paushuize in Utrecht. It's a bit like stepping into someone else's studio, isn’t it? I love the way that the monochrome palette gives everything a kind of dreamlike quality. You can almost feel the history layered up in the room. The paintings themselves seem to be having a conversation with each other, echoing shapes. I wonder what the artist, or artists, might have been thinking when they made them? Do you think they knew that they would be placed together? There's a playful composition—it’s not symmetrical, but it’s balanced, with each painting having its own weight and presence. It reminds me a bit of Gerhard Richter and the way he blurred and reworked his paintings. I bet that these artists were equally inspired by the artists that came before them.