Kist met kindertekeningen 1958

Eugene Brands made this painting, ‘Kist met kindertekeningen’, with oil paint, in a way that reminds me of how children make art: free, and without too much self-editing. There’s a real feeling of energy. The paint is applied quite thinly in most areas, allowing us to see the texture of the canvas underneath. The colour palette is quite subdued, dominated by greys, creams, and yellows, with the figures and objects outlined in thick black lines. If you look closely at the yellow chair, you’ll notice that the paint is applied in short, quick strokes, almost like little dashes, giving it a lively, flickering quality. This area is quite gestural and open, the painting itself seems to show the traces of the action that created it. Brands was a member of the Cobra group, and he seems to have taken inspiration from folk art and art brut. Like Dubuffet, he taps into a raw, primal mode of expression.