Kleisculptuur van een vliegtuig met drie vrouwen en een kind 1903 - 1910

This sculpture, of an airplane carrying three women and a child, lives in the Rijksmuseum. The image is monochromatic. The artist, who is anonymous, had a clear vision; artmaking is about seeing potential, not just the thing itself. There is a tension between the hard lines of the plane, the almost brutalist geometry of its wing, and the soft, flowing figures that adorn its body. It’s an odd pairing, part machine, part classical sculpture. It reminds me of Rodin, but with a kind of futurist twist. There's a palpable sense of movement. The figures are draped in cloth that billows behind them, suggesting speed and flight. The child, perched atop one of the women, adds a touch of innocence to the scene, an idea of looking forward into the unknown. You could almost say that art, like flight, is about taking off, not knowing exactly where you're going to land.