Ontwerp voor een affiche voor een expositie in Laren 1884 - 1952

Here is a pencil drawing on paper of an exhibition design for Laren by Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries. Look at the marks, they are searching aren’t they? Like the artist is feeling around for the image. It’s hard to know what the artist was thinking, but this piece makes me imagine De Vries standing at his easel, maybe outside, squinting at the light hitting a lamppost and a cheeky bird. Notice how the pencil lines create a sense of depth and texture, especially in the lamp’s structure and the bird’s feathers. I wonder if he worked on this sketch over several sessions, layering the marks to build up the forms. I love this quiet intimate moment. It reminds us that artists are always looking, always experimenting, and that even a simple sketch can reveal something profound about the way we see the world. We’re all just trying to find our way, one line at a time.