Verschillende afbeeldingen / Differents dessins 1866 - 1902

Franciscus Antonius Beersmans created this print titled "Verschillende afbeeldingen / Differents dessins." The work is composed of a grid of images, each one bordered with a thin black line. These frames create a rhythmic structure across the sheet, organizing diverse subjects into a unified field. The figures within each frame are colored with a limited palette, where blocks of red, green and yellow sit alongside the black lines, lending a graphic, almost diagrammatic quality to the images. This reductive approach to form invites us to consider the semiotic function of the images. Rather than focusing on mimetic representation, the artist isolates basic forms. This encourages the viewer to decode what each image signifies as a sign, reflecting a broader interest in the structural underpinnings of visual language. The overall effect destabilizes fixed meanings, suggesting that visual representation is a system of signs that needs to be interpreted within a given cultural context.