Kalenderblad juni met broedende vogel 1906

This calendar page for June was made by Theo van Hoytema, and it’s all about the green and gold, and little repeated motifs. Imagine Hoytema there, maybe drawing directly from life, trying to capture this bird in its nest. I wonder if the bird was moving around a lot, and he had to really work to catch its essence, its stillness. The nest itself is so artfully rendered, a woven sculpture of twigs and soft materials. You can almost feel the texture of the nest, and see the bird settled, warm, and protected. I like how the feathers are suggested with all these tiny strokes and textures, like whispers on the page. And then all those green leaves. What I appreciate is how the drawing gives you everything you need, a sort of concentrated knowing. It reminds me of other artists working at the time, people like Walter Crane and Aubrey Beardsley. There was a real flowering of graphic art at that time, and Hoytema was part of it. We keep building on each other's work, don’t we?