Getal 1 1904

This small artwork was made by Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries and is called 'Getal 1'. It's hard to tell exactly when it was made. The shapes are so intriguing here, aren't they? Sort of bird-like, and mirrored, the image looks like an abstracted letter 'I'. There is something very satisfying about the composition, how the shapes mirror each other across the central axis. It's on the small side, only 30 by 29 millimetres, and the marks have an organic quality. It makes me wonder what implement was used to draw the image, maybe a calligraphy pen. It's a world away from the high seriousness of some art, and it feels modest and approachable. Maybe de Vries looked at artists like Hilma af Klint. It gives me the feeling that art is one long, wild conversation. It embraces ambiguity and allows for multiple interpretations rather than sticking to fixed meanings.