Ontwerp voor raam in het Noordertransept in de Dom te Utrecht c. 1934

Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst made this design for a window in the North transept of the Dom Church in Utrecht. It's a pastel drawing with these thick black lines separating a mix of gem-like colours: blues, reds, and yellows. It really gives you a sense of Holst’s process, like he’s working something out as he goes. The texture is chalky and soft and where the colors meet, they blend together in a way that feels, I don’t know, almost accidental? The blues at the bottom are really juicy and deep, and then you see this patch of yellow near the top that's almost like a little burst of sunlight. And, get this, the central form, that flower or whatever it is, it feels like it’s both emerging from and dissolving into the surrounding colors. Like it's all one, big, swirling, evolving thing. I can't help but think of Hilma af Klint when I look at this, another artist playing with color and form to express something deeper. Art is all about this endless back-and-forth, a conversation across time, full of questions and maybe, just maybe, a few answers.