Ontwerp voor een album voor A.W. Sijthoff 1901

Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries made this design for an album cover with pencil on paper. It’s so understated, so quiet, like a whisper of a plan. The lines are tentative, the ornamental flourish like a doodle in the margins of a notebook. But it's this feeling of process that gets me. I love seeing the bare bones of an idea, the way the artist is thinking through the composition, the spacing, the rhythm of the elements. Look closely at the way the lines are drawn. They're not perfect, they waver a little, and that’s where the beauty lies, right? It reminds me of Agnes Martin’s grids, so simple, yet so full of feeling. There's a tenderness here, a vulnerability that I find really moving. It’s like a glimpse into the artist's mind. It’s not a finished product, it’s a conversation, an invitation.