Omslag bij reclamefoto's voor snoepfabrikant Brandle & Smith Co., Philadelphia 1915

This is an old promotional album for Brandle & Smith Co. confectionary, whoever they were. You can tell it has lived a life, just like a much-loved painting, with all the marks and the worn edges. There's a certain beauty in the way the texture of the cover shows through the red, almost like a watercolor wash, and it's something you only get with time. It’s also how the light catches on those little scratches and indentations. It reminds me of a Rothko, how the layers of color affect each other. I think of artists like Vija Celmins when I see this. It’s that kind of quiet attention to the surface of things. It's not about perfection, it’s about the marks that happen along the way. Art, just like candy, can be about embracing the imperfections, the things that make it real, make it human, make it delicious.