Blad 126 uit Stamboek van de leerlingen der Koloniale School voor Meisjes en Vrouwen te 's-Gravenhage deel II (1930-1949) Possibly 1940 - 1941

This page from the register of the Colonial School for Girls and Women in The Hague was made sometime between 1930 and 1949, and it’s just so full of marks, lines and textures made by anonymous hands. The ink is faded in places, but the script is so beautiful, it’s like a drawing. Look at the way the dates run down the page, the handwriting slanting to the right with a very clear sense of rhythm. The signatures are the most interesting part; each is like a small work of art in itself, expressing something of the individual’s personality, a dance on the page. And then there are the photographs pasted alongside, adding another layer of texture and meaning, faces staring out from a different time. It reminds me of the work of Cy Twombly, who also made marks on the surface of paintings. In both cases, you feel a real sense of history and the passage of time, and that’s pretty moving.