Ontwerp voor raam in het Noordertransept in de Dom te Utrecht c. 1934

This is Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst’s design for a window in the Dom at Utrecht, made with chalk and watercolour. I love the way that the lines are confident but not overly precise, creating these separate, organic forms that build up into a complete, if abstract, composition. You can really imagine the artist playing with the different materials – smudging the chalk to create subtle variations in tone, and then letting the watercolour bleed into the paper. The browns and greys, earthy and muted, give it a sense of groundedness and, in the areas where the chalk looks really dense, it almost seems like the light is being absorbed into the surface. Consider the upper most curve of the image – the line is confident but imperfect. It seems to bow under its own weight. To me, that single mark speaks to the whole piece. It feels both solid and somehow precarious, just like life. It makes me think of other artists, like Marsden Hartley, who embraced abstraction while seeking spiritual meaning. And like any good work of art, it invites you to see something new each time you look at it.