Lony laat een jurk aan Rolf zien before 1954

Hans Borrebach made “Lony laat een jurk aan Rolf zien” with pen and ink and watercolour, and what strikes me is the artist’s ability to convey a narrative with the simplest of means. I wonder how Borrebach came to create the piece: he may have started with a sketch to map out the composition, then carefully built up the forms with the ink drawing, and then added flat washes of watercolour. The lines are so economical, describing the shapes with the bare minimum of strokes. The way he plays with the limited colour palette is lovely. The blues and greys create a sense of coolness, maybe a little bit of melancholy. The artist is inviting us to consider the nuances of light and shadow, and how these elements define the mood of the scene. There’s this balance between precision and spontaneity. It's like he is engaging in a conversation with other illustrators of his day. You can sense his desire to push the boundaries of the medium.