Studie voor een tulpenschaal 1918

Theo Colenbrander's "Studie voor een tulpenschaal" is a watercolor drawing, maybe a sketch for a larger ceramic piece, full of soft, translucent colors and tentative lines. You can sense Colenbrander circling, searching for the right form, the right composition. Look at the way he layers the hues—muted pinks, yellows, and greens—to create these dreamy tulips. I can imagine him hunched over the paper, lost in the act of bringing these blooms to life. Maybe he had a vase of tulips in front of him, or maybe he was working from memory, trying to capture their essence, their fleeting beauty. These motifs on the page feel like notes for a ceramic piece, you can see him working out the overall design, playing with different patterns and arrangements. It is all feeling and intuition! Like so many artists, Colenbrander is building on the past while pushing towards something new. What a great image!