Lint op rol, gestreept, groen met magenta, zwart, grijs en oranje before 1926

This is a roll of ribbon with stripes of green, magenta, black, gray and orange, by Gustav Schnitzler. It's in the Rijksmuseum. I like to imagine the artist, Gustav, sitting in his studio thinking: how can I make a ribbon into art? It's almost like a miniature painting. The roll becomes the canvas, and the ribbon is the brushstroke. I wonder what it felt like to choose those colors and how they would sit next to each other? It reminds me of a Josef Albers color study. This piece plays with color and form in such a simple way, but it's also very thoughtful. It suggests that art can be found in the everyday, and that even a functional object can be elevated to something beautiful. It's like Gustav is whispering across time, reminding us to look closely at the world around us.