Ontwerp voor een titelhoofd 1884 - 1952

Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries made this design for a title page with ink and graphite. Look at the bold lines that frame ‘L’Affiche Hollandaise’. I wonder what de Vries was thinking when they made those swooping black shapes? Maybe they were interested in how an image can be both flat and have depth. The surface is really interesting. There are white smudges which show the graphite underneath. The off-white tones give it such an old feel! It makes you think about how much we take for granted in the digital age. Back then, artists probably spent hours just perfecting their materials. Ultimately, art is a conversation between artists, and between artists and viewers. We are all in this together, trying to make sense of the world and our place in it.