400 Jaar WVO 1933

This plate, marking the 400th anniversary of the WVO, was made in 1933 by De Porceleijne Fles, using earthenware and tin glaze. The blue and white are just so Dutch. It feels connected to folk art, or the kind of earnest art you find on the internet. Look at the waves. Aren’t they something? They’re so stylized, so patterned, that they almost read like musical notation. Each stroke feels considered, each a deliberate part of the overall design. It’s like the artist found a way to freeze the chaos of the sea into a perfectly ordered scene. It makes me think about how we try to contain the uncontainable. I see echoes of early Delftware, but also something that reminds me of Guston’s late work, with that same commitment to line and form. Art's about taking what came before and making it your own. Nothing’s ever really finished, is it?