Piet Bing rent af op Freddy zittend bij een hek before 1954

Hans Borrebach made this drawing of ‘Piet Bing rent af op Freddy zittend bij een hek’ with ink and blue wash, sometime in the twentieth century. The way the artist approaches the cartoon figures, they are outlined with dark lines and filled with color in a way that reminds me of coloring books. I love the economy of means, the color is translucent in places, almost like watercolor, and in other areas it is more opaque. Look at how the artist renders the landscape and ground with energetic scribbles in a way that gives us a sense of space, but also keeps the scene flat and graphic. The fence is reduced to simple vertical lines, a child-like form with a primitive expression. Borrebach’s playful, comic book style reminds me of artists like Philip Guston, who embraced a similar kind of freedom and directness in their work. And like Guston, Borrebach shows us how complexity can be found in even the simplest of forms. Art is an invitation to see the world with fresh eyes, and Borrebach's drawing opens up a space of imagination.