Handtekeningenblad met zes rozetten voor een album voor Prof. Mr. L. den Hartog 1902

This sheet of paper shows a design for an album page, made by Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries. He’s used graphite and watercolour to paint six rosettes, spaced out on a grid. I can imagine De Vries, carefully plotting out his design, making sure each rosette is perfectly placed. Did he start with the grid, a system to contain his floral forms? Or did the flowers come first, dictating the structure around them? Each one has a unique character, little differences in the curves and lines that suggest a human touch, an intuitive response. I like to think about the physicality of this piece, the way the watercolour interacts with the paper. The graphite grid lines peek through the pale ochre flowers. It is translucent, almost shimmering. This kind of precision, yet the warmth in the choice of colour, reminds me of the pattern designs of William Morris. Artists are always in conversation, you know? De Vries is echoing a tradition while bringing his own sensibility to it. It's this exchange of ideas, across time and place, that keeps painting alive. It’s about expression, ambiguity, and the multiple meanings that emerge through the process.