Acht handtekeningen geplakt op een blad met tarwe en decoratieve rand 1904

George Lourens Kiers made this assemblage of signatures and pen drawings, but I don’t know when. It lives at the Rijksmuseum. Looking at these eight signatures floating above a field of wheat, I imagine Kiers carefully placing each card, balancing the composition with the delicate, spiky forms of the wheat stalks. I wonder if the signatures were from people he admired, or perhaps just acquaintances? Are they wheat farmers? The arrangement feels both formal and a little bit whimsical, like a botanical study meets a social register. It reminds me of collages, where disparate elements come together to create new meanings. Kiers is playing with line and form, inviting us to consider the relationship between these carefully rendered signatures and the natural world. There is something satisfying in the repetition of the wheat—and its natural rhythm, each stroke a testament to time and skill. And something compelling in the human need to mark our existence.