Madelieven in het gras 1911 - 1943

This black and white print, Madelieven in het gras, by Arend Hendriks, gives us daisies in grass, or rather, the impression of daisies in grass, like a dream half remembered. Looking at it, I imagine Hendriks hunched over a copper plate, his hand moving deliberately, etching lines to capture the light as it falls across the meadow. You can almost feel the sharp tool scraping away, a slow building up of tiny marks. I wonder if he felt the same pressure I do, the urge to make every stroke count, even when you know the magic really happens in the layering? I love how the daisies almost float against the darker ground, their delicate petals edged with light. There’s a real sense of intimacy here, like the artist has invited us to kneel down and examine something easy to overlook. That’s what art does, right? It gets us to look closer, to find beauty in the unexpected. And in that spirit, artists are always building on each other’s discoveries, carrying the conversation forward, one careful mark at a time.