Roofs, Trees and a Woman 

Rik Wouters made this watercolor titled "Roofs, Trees and a Woman" by using a light wash of color to suggest forms and textures. The piece offers a delicate balance between representation and abstraction, evoking a dreamlike quality. Wouters approaches the landscape with a distinctive lightness, dissolving solid forms into loose aggregations of colour. The eye is drawn to the interplay between the black ink used to depict the woman on the left, and the watercolor washes defining the rest of the composition. The contrast destabilizes traditional notions of figure and ground, inviting us to question the relationship between subject and environment. The strategic arrangement of colours and shapes throughout the piece offers a network of signs suggesting form, rather than explicitly defining it. The enduring appeal of this watercolor lies in its ability to challenge fixed meanings and inspire new ways of perceiving the world through the language of abstract forms.