Schotel van aardewerk, veelkleurig beschilderd met vegetatieve ornamenten en de letters ORANJE 1923

This earthenware plate, painted in many colours, was made by Theo Colenbrander. It’s just bursting with vegetal motifs and those ‘Oranje’ letters, a celebration of the Dutch royal family and the art of making all rolled into one! Colenbrander seems to have laid down some serious paint. It's not just colour, it’s texture, a whole landscape of feeling. I want to touch it, feel the slight imperfections, the brushstrokes that tell a story of the hand at work. Take those central lemons, for example. They're swimming in an abstract sea of blue and brown. This piece reminds me of Howard Hodgkin, in how he used ornamental motifs to evoke memories and emotions. Colenbrander, like Hodgkin, seems to be saying that art doesn't have to be perfect. It can be messy, ambiguous, and full of surprises. It's a conversation, not a lecture.