Aan het hoog gezag der nacht 1915

Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst made this round artwork, titled "Aan het hoog gezag der nacht" using watercolour, charcoal and chalk. What strikes me about it is the way that the colours blend and bleed, it’s less about making an image and more about letting it emerge. The surface has a soft, chalky texture, kind of like looking at something through fogged glass. The blues and purples are muted, blending the sky and sea into a melancholic atmosphere. I love how he’s used the chalk to create a luminous effect around the clouds and the figure standing amidst the crashing waves. The waves, rendered in fluid, dark strokes, feel almost alive, like dark tendrils reaching out. Notice how the figure is dwarfed by the immensity of the night sky and turbulent sea, which gives a feeling of human vulnerability against the backdrop of nature’s power. This piece reminds me a little of Odilon Redon, especially in its dreamlike quality and symbolic use of colour and imagery. Like Redon, Holst creates a world that feels both familiar and otherworldly, where the boundaries between reality and imagination blur.