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

Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst made this design for a window in the North transept of Utrecht Cathedral, we don’t know exactly when. Looking at this work, I can imagine the artist’s hand moving decisively, defining each shape with dark outlines that both contain and liberate the muted tones within. The ochre and brown palette evokes the earthy feel of stained glass. There is something about the simplification of form that speaks to a kind of modernist urge, a desire to capture essential forms. Those heavy lines give the design strength, mapping out a world of solid forms and subtle gradations. I keep thinking of Mondrian, or maybe even Fernand Léger; Holst invites us to see how artists engage in a visual conversation across time, each one building on the ideas of those who came before, reinterpreting them with a new eye and sensibility.