Bandontwerp voor: Verslag der Dagteeken- en Kunstambachtschool voor Meisjes te Amsterdam over het jaar 1919 after 1919

Nicolaas van de Vecht made this design for the 1919 report of the Amsterdam Arts and Crafts School for Girls. It’s rendered in ink and graphite, and it’s all about the back and forth between dark and light, figure and ground. Look closely, and you’ll see how the artist relishes in the details of contrasting textures. See that central motif on the left, like a radiating, surrealist flame? Note how that sense of depth is achieved through the smallest of tonal gradations, built up from tiny strokes of graphite. The precision of these marks builds up to an image that feels both disciplined and otherworldly. And on the right, the carved, shadowed lettering feels weighty, solid, ancient. I see echoes of artists like Aubrey Beardsley and the Symbolists here. Van de Vecht shares their interest in the occult, but he also brings a distinctly modern, graphic sensibility to the fore. Ultimately, the piece reminds me that art is an ongoing conversation, an echo chamber where ideas and forms are constantly being reimagined.