Rekening van R.W.P. de Vries Jr. voor het ontwerp van apothekersetiketten c. 1931

This is Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries’s bill for designing apothecary labels, and what strikes me is how matter-of-fact and provisional it feels. I can imagine him, pen in hand, maybe in a slightly cluttered studio, negotiating the design briefs, and jotting everything down as he goes. You know, the surface of this paper is fascinating. The paper isn’t precious; it’s thin and lined, but the ink, though faded, has a wonderful intensity. There is such a sense of immediacy and intimacy in the artist's handwriting. The mix of neat lists and spontaneous annotations gives me an insight into the artist’s creative process. It’s like a score to a performance we can only imagine! Thinking about it, every time we make marks, we are in conversation with every other artist who has ever made a mark. We take inspiration from each other, building on traditions. And I think that what makes art special is that we don’t need to know exactly what it means for it to move us.