Kalenderblad juli met vlasbekjes 1917

Editor: Here we have Theo van Hoytema’s “Kalenderblad juli met vlasbekjes,” a July calendar page with toadflax, created in 1917 using ink and pen. It feels both precise and a little wild. It's the kind of drawing that makes you want to go on a picnic, but I'm wondering, what catches your eye in this particular image? Curator: You know, it’s the embrace of both control and freedom that really sings to me. Hoytema gives us this incredibly structured calendar layout, a grid that tames time itself. But then, these bursts of flora—the toadflax, rendered with such loose, almost frenetic energy. It feels like a gentle rebellion against the very order he's imposed. Don't you feel that tension? Like he's letting nature peek through the cracks of civilization? Editor: Absolutely. The flowers *are* bursting out, almost ignoring the lines of the calendar. I’m also noticing those tiny illustrative details sprinkled around the dates… little windows into rural life, almost? Curator: Exactly! Tiny poems nestled within the grid. A sailboat on the 16th, for example, or a charming thatched roof… Hoytema's really capturing the soul of a Dutch summer, isn't he? A slower, simpler life where the rhythm of the month is dictated by the seasons and the land, and of course…flowers. You could almost feel the sun-baked earth just looking at it, almost as if his images wanted to turn into dreams…What do you feel you now take away after this analysis? Editor: I will look at calendars from now on looking not just for the dates! Curator: Splendid! Let beauty be there for you everyday!