Ontwerp voor een tapijt met geometrisch patroon Possibly 1927

Dirk Verstraten made this carpet design, or Ontwerp voor een tapijt met geometrisch patroon, with some kind of paint on paper; the date is unknown. What I see here is a meticulous, hand-rendered drawing, but the geometric patterns remind me of a computer screen. The drawing is of a corner of a carpet, so that the central red square is interrupted by the edges of the design; this makes me think of the edges of a painting, and the way that a painting always suggests something beyond its own borders. I like how Verstraten used color here, particularly the small blue squares inside the larger pink and brown ones. Look closely and you'll notice that the corner design features an almost maze-like quality. It's as though the shapes are leading you on a very specific path. This gives the carpet design a sense of both order and a kind of playful wandering, reminiscent of the work of Paul Klee. Ultimately, it's all about how artists borrow and riff off each other through time.