Ontwerp voor een kamerbeschildering 1884 - 1952

Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries made this design for a room decoration with watercolour, gouache, and pencil. The colour palette is muted, almost like faded wallpaper. It gives me the impression of peering into someone’s memory. The repetitive floral pattern is built with delicate gold lines and small orange flowers, like a gentle hum, a constant refrain, which creates a calming effect. I'm drawn to the flat green rectangle to the left, which could be a door or a window. It’s framed with a blue border that contrasts with the patterned wall, drawing the eye to this area. The paint application is thin and translucent, allowing the paper's texture to show through. You can almost see the artist's hand moving across the surface, carefully building up the layers. The stylized motifs and the emphasis on decorative patterns remind me of Art Nouveau, which was all about bringing art into everyday life. I find it beautiful how artists working at that time saw art as something that could transform the mundane and bring beauty into our domestic spaces.