Ornamenten met bloemen 1870 - 1937

Willem Wenckebach made these floral ornaments using pen, black ink, and watercolor, but when? The date is unknown. I am struck by the artist's almost obsessive attention to detail. Just look at the way each petal is meticulously outlined, like the artist is getting lost in the act of making, a kind of visual meditation, perhaps. It's the middle ornament in particular that grabs me. Notice how the black ink is used to create such a strong contrast with the white paper, giving the design a bold and graphic quality, like a woodcut. The shapes are so stylized, so simplified, that they almost become abstract. Then look at the grey wash on the right. It feels so different to the central image. There's a real tension here between representation and abstraction, control and spontaneity, that reminds me of Hilma af Klint’s botanical drawings. Wenckebach invites us to find our own meanings in the natural world.