Ornament met kwastjes 1884 - 1952

Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries made this little watercolor ornament, it's called Ornament met kwastjes in Dutch, which means "Ornament with tassels", at some point in his life. It’s so small and contained, and the lines are so precise. You can imagine him holding his breath as he painted each tiny square and flick of light blue. I wonder if he was trying to capture the light as it fell on an actual tassel, or if he was making it up out of his head. The yellows really pop. It’s like he’s trapped the sun in each brushstroke. And those little lines? Each one is like a tiny poem, a little thought that he’s had about light, shadow, and the way things hang in space. It reminds me a little bit of Hilma af Klint's work, or even Agnes Martin. It feels like he’s part of a long, ongoing conversation with all those painters who are trying to figure out what it means to make an image. I see the care and attention and the desire to create something lovely and full of feeling.