Prijspenning van de Koninklijke Nederlandsche Motorwielrijdersvereeniging (1922) 1922

Chris van der Hoef crafted this bronze award in 1922 for the Royal Dutch Motorcyclists Association. It is so small, this little hexagon, but look closely, and you’ll see it's packed with detail. Imagine van der Hoef, hunched over, carefully engraving the intricate design. What's going through their mind? Are they thinking about the speed and freedom of motorcycles, or the precision and skill required to capture all that on this small surface? I love how the crown sits atop the central letters like a tiny, regal hat. And the laurel branches, winding around the edges – they add a touch of classical elegance to this celebration of modern machinery. There’s a conversation happening here, between tradition and innovation, between the artist’s hand and the machine-made world. Artists are always in dialogue, riffing off each other, across time and media, embracing the unexpected and finding new ways to express themselves.