De houten wenteltrap in het Gemeenlandshuis van Delfland, te Maassluis 1901

This is Jan Striening’s watercolor of a wooden staircase, made in 1886. The muted palette gives the whole scene a kind of hushed, antique feeling. Look at how the curving form of the staircase dominates the composition. It's a beautiful rendering of three-dimensional space. The way Striening models the light and shadow gives the impression of depth and volume, like you could almost walk right up those stairs. Notice how the thin washes of color create subtle gradations, especially on the underside of the stairs and the texture of the wooden beams above. There's a softness, an almost dreamlike quality to the scene. This drawing reminds me of the interiors of Vilhelm Hammershøi. Both artists find a strange kind of beauty in the quiet corners of domestic life. I like how Striening embraces the quirks and irregularities of the old building, finding a kind of beauty in its imperfections.