Ornamenten met planten c. 1910

These ‘Ornamenten met planten’ were made by Bernard Willem Wierink; it’s hard to date exactly but it’s probably from the late 19th or early 20th century. It's made from some kind of print, so it's all about the process of multiplication, taking something unique and making it repeatable. Look at how the red ink sits on the surface, it's really flat. The ink isn't trying to trick you into thinking it's anything other than ink on paper. It’s this acceptance of the material that I find appealing. There’s one band of ornament about halfway down, where these leafy forms become more like a kind of scribble. It’s this looser, more hand-drawn quality that stands out to me. I'm reminded of the work of William Morris, but there's something rawer, less refined about Wierink's take on decoration. Ultimately, art is a conversation across time, with artists borrowing, stealing, and riffing off each other's ideas.