Tulpen in een kan 1872 - 1950

Barbara Elisabeth van Houten made this etching of tulips in a vase using black ink. I can see the artist carefully composing the image, shifting the flowers just so, tilting the vase a little to the left. I wonder if she labored over this, wiping and re-inking, trying to capture the softness of the blooms. The texture feels almost velvety, doesn't it? I'm sure she looked at other still lifes, maybe the Dutch Masters or maybe a contemporary, and thought about how to make it her own. There's a certain intimacy in the way the light falls, a quietness. Her delicate hand is visible in every line. I admire the way the simple monochrome palette lets the form and composition speak. It's like she's having a conversation with us and with all the artists who came before, each one nudging the language of painting forward.