Piet de plaaggeest c. 1902

This is Jules Hénault’s “Piet de plaaggeest,” made sometime around the turn of the 20th century. It’s a series of vignettes, little drawings, like a comic strip, all done with a light touch, almost like watercolor. Looking at this, I'm struck by the delicacy of the color. There's a lot of pale yellow, which gives the whole piece a kind of sunshiney feeling, despite the naughty subject matter! The lines are so simple, almost childlike, but they perfectly capture the feeling of movement and mischief. Take the image in the upper right corner – a young girl running away from a tiger. The girl has a look of absolute terror on her face! But it’s softened by the gentleness of the drawing. It reminds me a little of the work of Honoré Daumier, who also had a knack for capturing human foibles with a touch of humor. It's like they're both saying, hey, we're all just a little bit ridiculous sometimes.