Ontwerp voor een album voor A.W. Sijthoff 1901

Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries made this design for an album for A.W. Sijthoff, and it's just lines on paper, so it seems a bit strange to talk about it like it is, but that's only the start of seeing it. I wonder, what was De Vries thinking as he made this album design? Was he listening to music? Was he alone or with his client? Was it a struggle to get the brief right? I can imagine him, puzzling over this arrangement of lines and curves: these straight lines, these ornate flourishes... what do they mean? It's almost like writing or planning a painting: what's the gesture, the underlying structure, the organization of space, and what does it all add up to? Every line, every mark is a decision, a feeling, a thought made visible. That ornate flourish is my favorite, it lifts what could be cold and hard off the ground, like a little song. Artists are always in conversation with each other, borrowing and riffing, and sometimes, just doing something totally different! And we're all invited to join in, in our own way.