Vrouw in bruine jurk, 1913-1914 1913 - 1914

Jan van Brock made this watercolour of a woman in a brown dress around 1913 or 1914, and what strikes me is the freshness of the colours, the pale lemon yellow of the dress, and the lively orange and green details. Looking at it, I wonder what kind of paper he used. It has a real density, a weight, which holds the colour really well. But the marks themselves are delicate, tentative, and the washes are so subtle. It’s the kind of thing you can only achieve through really careful observation and practice. The decorative patterns on the clothing seem to float across the material, they’re not quite part of the fabric, more like an appliquéd surface. That sense of a surface laid on top of a surface makes me think of Klimt, with the way he combined decorative patterns with figurative elements to create shimmering, dreamlike images. But where Klimt is elaborate and gilded, Van Brock is restrained and elegant. In both cases, though, you get the sense of an artist who is fascinated by the way we adorn ourselves.