Verzameling ontwerpen - vijf 1901

This is ‘Verzameling ontwerpen - vijf’, made by Tsuda Seifū sometime between 1880 and 1978. I love how this piece exists between design and the gesture of painting. It's got this kind of playful arrangement of motifs; flowers and geometrical shapes scattered across a muted surface. You can imagine Tsuda Seifū, carefully considering each element, positioning them just so, trying to find that perfect balance between spontaneity and order. I can imagine them stepping back, squinting, making tiny adjustments, and reevaluating. It's all about the push and pull of intention, and maybe happy accidents. I wonder if they were thinking about earlier artists while making it, perhaps riffing on traditional forms while injecting something fresh and modern? I like the tension here. Ultimately, art-making is an ongoing conversation with the past, and a lively exchange of ideas. Each gesture carries echoes of what came before, even as it reaches toward something new.