Bediende brengt een doos naar een vrouw before 1945

Hans Borrebach made this drawing, "Bediende brengt een doos naar een vrouw," with ink and watercolour on paper, and it's all about the expressive power of line. Borrebach isn't trying to trick us into thinking this is real, and the blue and black give the drawing a kind of graphic punch. The texture here is all in the paper; it looks smooth and absorbent. There's a real economy in how the figures are defined, with just enough detail to tell us who they are and what they're doing. Look at the face of the woman holding the box – that slightly downturned mouth tells you everything you need to know, right? This piece has a certain charm that reminds me a little of David Hockney’s line drawings, but more intimate, more modest. It's not trying to be a grand statement; it's just a slice of life, observed with a keen eye and a gentle hand. Art at its best can reveal the hidden beauty in the everyday.