Kalenderblad december met twee vogels 1901

Theo van Hoytema made this calendar page for December with pen and ink. It makes you think about the end of the year, about stillness and winter, doesn’t it? I imagine him sitting in his studio, hunched over the paper, carefully rendering the two birds perched on a snow-covered branch. Each stroke of the pen, a deliberate act, slowly bringing the scene to life. The way he's depicted the birds, they almost seem to be huddling together for warmth, their feathers puffed up against the cold. And the snow, rendered in delicate, swirling lines, adds to the sense of quietude and peace. I wonder if Van Hoytema was thinking about the changing seasons, or the simple beauty of nature in winter? The blank calendar below reminds us that time moves on, whether we're ready or not. Artists are always talking to each other, across time, inspiring each other’s creativity. And in the end, it’s a conversation, an ongoing exchange of ideas that keeps us all going.