Plafond van Vismarkt 16-17 te Leiden 1901

This is a photograph of the 'Plafond van Vismarkt 16-17 te Leiden', and it’s anonymous. It's so interesting to think about how the design has come into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I think it's easy to sympathize with an artist who’s creating architectural flourishes like this, it's not necessarily something we think about as an expressive medium. It's great to look closely at the textures, the surface of the plaster, the way it has been molded into these extravagant floral shapes and linear embellishments. I imagine that as the plasterer was crafting these elaborate ceiling decorations, they might have been thinking about light, symmetry, and the overall impression it would make on the space. There’s a certain rhythm to it, like a visual dance. It makes me think of other artists, like Lee Bontecou, who are similarly preoccupied with texture, depth, and organic forms. Artists are in an ongoing conversation, constantly exchanging ideas across time, inspiring one another’s creativity, just like this beautiful ceiling decoration continues to inspire me.