kandelaar van porselein beschilderd met bloemen 1903

This porcelain candlestick, adorned with painted flowers, was made at the N.V. Haagsche Plateelfabriek Rozenburg. Imagine the artist, carefully layering the paint onto the porcelain, coaxing these delicate blooms into existence. The floral motifs curl and climb, imbuing the form with a sense of organic growth. I’m drawn to the subtle palette of muted greens and browns, how they create a feeling of understated elegance. There’s a dance between the realism of botanical illustration and the abstraction of pattern here, a push and pull that keeps my eye moving. I wonder if the painter was thinking of William Morris, or perhaps some of the other Art Nouveau artists who were exploring similar themes at the time. Each brushstroke is an act of translation, a conversation between the artist, the medium, and the world around them. It’s this kind of exchange that makes painting so endlessly fascinating.