Vignet R.W.P. de Vries Jr. Edam 1884 - 1952

This delicate image is an engraving made by Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries. It’s ghostlike, a pale impression, but I love to imagine him working on it; gently scraping and etching the plate. There’s a strange intimacy to the image, the way the lines seem to float off the surface. I wonder if de Vries was thinking about lettering, playing with form as much as function. You know, making art can feel like a conversation with other artists across time. We’re all picking up where someone else left off, riffing on old ideas and trying to make them new. It is so amazing how the smallest gesture can hold so much feeling. The beauty of a piece like this lies in its ambiguity, the way it invites us to bring our own experiences and interpretations to it.