Ontwerp voor een apothekersetiket voor levertraanemulsie 1884 - 1952

Here's Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries's 'Ontwerp voor een apothekersetiket voor levertraanemulsie', a design for a pharmacy label using pencil. You can really see the hand of the artist here, can’t you? I feel the artist shifting around the page as they draw and redraw, searching for the right form. I wonder what de Vries was thinking about when he made this. Was he interested in art nouveau design, or was he just trying to make a buck? Either way, I sympathize with the artist. The design feels both precise and loose at the same time, a combination of the constraints of commercial art and the desire for freedom. I like the vertical fish, it feels Art Nouveau. It's interesting how that style—with its organic forms and flowing lines—spread through fine art and design. De Vries is clearly part of that conversation. In the end, all art is an ongoing dialogue—artists riffing off each other across time. Like painters, designers are constantly pushing and pulling at the edges of what's possible, trying to find new ways to express themselves.