Huilende Lony zittend op een houten krat before 1954

This drawing, 'Huilende Lony zittend op een houten krat', was made by Hans Borrebach. I can picture the artist, maybe with a brush in one hand, leaning into the paper, carefully placing the figures in the scene. The black outlines define the shapes in the image and the figures are filled in with blocks of flat color. The artist has chosen a simple palette of black, white, and blue, with a hint of tan for the ground. You can see the ladder and stacked paintings behind the seated woman. The ladder leans and it reminds me of the way Giacometti would have figures leaning, like life drawing, but in a constructed setting. What was Borrebach thinking when he made it? Every painter looks to their contemporaries and to the past and finds ways to interpret what they see anew. I see how all of us artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring one another’s creativity. Painting is embodied expression, embracing ambiguity, and inviting multiple interpretations.