Ontwerp voor een kalender c. 1901

This is Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof’s ‘Ontwerp voor een kalender’ which he made with a pencil on paper. I like to imagine Dijsselhof sketching out the details of this calendar, maybe as a gift for someone special, or as a part of a larger design project. I see the grid of dates for April, 1901, and the whimsical figures framing the calendar, like a musician with a wide-brimmed hat, all rendered in quick, expressive strokes. It makes me think about the way we mark time, how we try to bring order and beauty to the everyday. The lines feel so immediate, like he's working out ideas right in front of us. It's a peek into his process, into how he’s trying to connect art with life, to make something both useful and beautiful. I wonder if Dijsselhof was influenced by other artists and designers from his time, maybe those in the Art Nouveau movement, who were also into blending art and function. It is an invitation to reflect on how art can be a part of our daily lives.