Ontwerp voor een glas in loodraam met een bloemvorm met rolwerk after 1907

This design for a stained-glass window with a floral shape, adorned with scrollwork, was made on paper with pen and brush, in brown and yellow ink. I like to think about the process of designing such a window, all that measuring and planning, before even thinking about glass and light. The palette is very simple, almost austere, which I find interesting. It’s like the artist is saying, “Look, this is just the bones of the thing, the bare minimum.” And yet, the design is so intricate. The way the scrolls curl and unfurl, it's like they're breathing. I keep coming back to the bottom right, where a darker brown section almost looks like an animal’s head, or an abstract sculpture. It is almost as if the window is alive, still in the process of being made. This piece reminds me of the work of Hilma af Klint, another artist who used geometric shapes and patterns to explore hidden dimensions. Like af Klint, this anonymous artist seems to be reaching for something beyond the visible world.