Ontwerp voor een doos voor een manicure set Possibly 1911 - 1928

This is Mathieu Lauweriks' "Ontwerp voor een doos voor een manicure set," made in 1911. You can see Lauweriks was working with very simple materials here - pencil and paper - to describe what is essentially a 3D object. There's something really honest about his approach. It's not about hiding the process, but embracing it. Look at the geometric motifs that he incorporates into the design. The oval on top feels like a hieroglyph, maybe something ancient, but reinterpreted for the modern era. And see how the hatching adds depth and texture, almost like he’s sculpting with the pencil. Think of the early 20th century, with all its utopian ideas, and its a very pared-down vision of beauty, a kind of radical simplicity. It reminds me of Hilma af Klint, in that search for underlying forms. Art is a conversation, and Lauweriks is adding his voice, saying, "Let's find beauty in the essential." And, of course, there's always room for more than one answer.