Patroon van krullende ornamenten 1884 - 1952

This pencil drawing of curling ornaments on paper was made by Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries, but we don’t know exactly when. It’s like a frieze, an ornament. And the artist has used gridlines and compass points to make the pattern, so he could reproduce it, perhaps for tiles, or wallpaper. I’m thinking about the repetitive act of making this drawing, and how in the process of drawing those lines, slowly, carefully, the pattern comes into being. I see a kind of quiet and gentle approach. The artist makes a very precise framework, and from it emerges a pattern with a rhythm. It makes me think about how the work of previous generations of artists finds its way into our work. We look at the artists we love, and we absorb what they did, and then we make our own work. And that’s how art evolves, by learning from each other. It’s beautiful.