Staal bespanningsstof naar ontwerp van Theo Nieuwenhuis in passe-partout c. 1910

This steel upholstery fabric was designed by Theo Nieuwenhuis, and you can see it here at the Rijksmuseum. The metallic gold ink against the muted, textured ground is delicious, like the icing on a slightly stale cake! Looking at this design, you can see the physicality of the medium. It’s not just a flat image; there’s a relief, a texture that begs to be touched, to run your fingers over. It’s this very quality that activates the work, charging it with a sense of liveliness. The way the gold ink sits slightly raised on the surface creates shadows, emphasizing the repeating pattern of stylized leaves. The stylized motif reminds me of William Morris, another artist deeply invested in the dialogue between art and craft. But while Morris’s designs often burst with a riotous abundance, Nieuwenhuis’s pattern has a more restrained, almost geometric quality. It’s in that tension between nature and geometry, ornament and structure, that the work finds its peculiar strength.