Kalenderblad voor juli 1914 met een tureluur in een landschap 1913

Theo van Hoytema made this calendar page for July 1914 with lithography. Look at the scratchy marks and how they pile up to make a bird hiding in the grasses, a dreamy landscape in muted greens and browns, and a little calendar grid. I can imagine van Hoytema drawing this image over and over, trying to capture the quiet feeling of a summer field. What was he thinking as he worked? Maybe he liked how the bird, almost camouflaged, blends into the background, how the numbers sit within the natural world. It reminds me a little of Hilma af Klint. I’m drawn to the bottom edge, to those tiny, soft shapes – are they mushrooms? There is a sense of the artist's hand lingering, as if he’s not quite done, searching for that right balance of representation and imagination. It's a conversation through mark-making, a reminder that art is not just about what we see, but how we see it.