Zes cirkelvormige ontwerpen 1878 - 1938

Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst made these six circular designs using pencil and crayon, and what strikes me is how the shapes seem to emerge tentatively, the black creeping in and defining the crisp blues and whites. The texture is beguiling - it's hard to tell if the surface of the paper is smooth or rough, but I love how the colored pencil gives a kind of gritty depth to the otherwise simple color scheme. Take that circle on the lower left - see how it's like a window into some fractured, crystalline world? The angular shapes almost suggest architecture, or maybe diamonds, cut and faceted to catch the light. Looking at this work, I am reminded of Hilma af Klint, who also used geometric abstraction to explore unseen dimensions. But while Klint's work feels visionary and spiritual, Holst's is more like a playful experiment. Art is a conversation, after all, and it's works like this that keep it interesting, pushing the boundaries of what we think is possible.