Ornament met gestileerde bladeren van palmvarens c. 1890 - 1922

This is Johanna van de Kamer's pencil drawing, ‘Ornament met gestileerde bladeren van palmvarens’ – or ‘Ornament with stylized leaves of palm ferns.’ The drawing presents a repeating pattern of stylized botanical forms. Note how Van de Kamer uses precise lines to construct a rhythmic sequence of rounded shapes and spiraling tendrils. The composition strikes a delicate balance between naturalism and abstraction, a characteristic feature of the Art Nouveau movement. The structure is organized around a central, symmetrical axis, with stylized leaves radiating outwards, contained within a circular frame. This geometric simplification speaks to a broader trend in early 20th-century design, where artists sought to capture the essence of natural forms through abstracted, geometric means. Consider how the repetitive nature of the design alludes to the industrial processes of mass production. Yet the handmade quality of the drawing reminds us of the artist's individual skill and creative input. It is in this tension between the organic and the geometric, the handmade and the machine-made, that much of the drawing’s interest lies.