Philips lampen 1906 - 1945

Reijer Stolk made this ad for Philips lamps in the early part of the twentieth century using brush and ink. I love to imagine how Stolk approached making this. He probably started by drawing in pencil. And it’s clear he wanted to create an image of light. Look how the form emerges from dark to light, from the black background to the light bulb. Stolk captured that feeling of holding a bright idea in your hand, like you’re cupping a fragile thing. The bulb is painted with translucent washes, which overlap and almost look like an x-ray. That hand is like a skeleton, barely there. I see that delicate balance between showing and concealing. It reminds me of the work of other artists like Hilma af Klint. And I see how we build upon each other. What a beautiful exchange across time. The artist makes an artwork and then we, in turn, make meanings. It’s a form of embodied expression, that embraces ambiguity, and accepts multiple readings.