Blad 153 uit Stamboek van de leerlingen der Koloniale School voor Meisjes en Vrouwen te 's-Gravenhage deel II (1930-1949) Possibly 1948 - 1949

This open book, "Blad 153," from the Colonial School for Girls and Women in The Hague, active between 1930 and 1949, is not exactly a painting, but it is a surface on which marks have been made and identities recorded. Imagine the hand that carefully inscribed these names, dates, and signatures; each a tiny gesture of a life lived and a moment captured. You can feel the weight of history here, the precision and care of bureaucratic record-keeping. It’s like an abstract painting, where the grid provides a structure for individual expression. I wonder about the women whose lives are documented here. What were their dreams, their hopes, their fears as they embarked on their studies at the Colonial School? The signatures themselves are tiny works of art, each a unique expression of personality and identity. These women may not have been painters, but they were all artists of their own lives. Isn't that what art is all about, really? Capturing a moment, expressing an emotion, and connecting with others across time and space.