De goede rechter / De hond van Bergdal 1894 - 1959

This is a cartoon from Rijksmuseum, telling two stories through a series of panels. What's striking is how the simple colour palette is used to give a sense of depth and movement. The artist, Gordinne, uses colour not just to depict the scene, but to guide our eyes. Look at the way the colour is applied, it's almost like a watercolour, with thin washes creating the forms and shading. It gives the whole thing a very immediate feel, like we're seeing the story unfold in real time. There's a beautiful balance between the drawn line and the washes of colour, neither overwhelms the other, but together they create something really engaging. It reminds me a little of Honoré Daumier's lithographs, in the way it uses humour and social commentary. And like Daumier, Gordinne embraces ambiguity, inviting us to read between the lines and make our own interpretations. Art is nothing if not a conversation across time, right?