Kalenderblad mei met vliegende vogel 1917

Theo van Hoytema made this calendar page for May with ink on paper, though I don’t know exactly when. It’s like a little window into someone’s daily life, but also into the artist’s mind, which is always a treat. What strikes me most is the directness of the marks. You can almost feel the nib of the pen scratching across the paper. The lines are so alive, especially in the image of the bird in flight at the top. See how the artist uses short, quick strokes to suggest the texture of feathers and movement? It’s like he’s not just drawing a bird, but capturing a fleeting moment, a breath of air. The whole thing reminds me a bit of Aubrey Beardsley, but with a more down-to-earth, Dutch sensibility. Both artists embrace the power of line to create intricate worlds, but Beardsley’s work often feels more stylized, more about artifice, whereas van Hoytema’s has a rawness, an honesty, that feels very modern. Art is always this conversation across time, echoes and refractions, right?