Elk geluid in huis / is niet van een muis! / Een aprilgrap c. 1902

This comic strip by G. Angeli, titled ‘An April Fool’s Joke’, is made up of a series of sequential images, probably drawn and colored with inks or watercolor. The artist's process is laid bare in the quick, efficient lines and bold, flat colors. What strikes me is the artist’s commitment to clarity. Each panel is carefully framed to guide the eye, with exaggerated gestures and facial expressions to underscore the humor. Look at the way the artist uses red – in the curtains, the socks, the patterned wallpaper – it's like a visual joke that pops up throughout, tying everything together. And then there's that repeated character in the top hat, a kind of straight man amidst all the chaos. This playful approach reminds me a bit of early 20th-century cartooning, like Winsor McCay's surreal comic strips, where anything can happen and often does. What connects them is the spirit of experimentation, a willingness to embrace the absurd and find beauty in the unexpected. Art isn't about answers, it's about sparking new ways of seeing.