Affiche voor de tentoonstelling van W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp in het Stedelijk Museum te Amsterdam, 1934 1934

This is Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp's poster for his 1934 exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. It's rendered with what looks like graphite or charcoal, and the marks are really evocative. I love how the drawing balances detail and abstraction. Take the boat, for instance. It's like a dream boat, its prow a horse's head with a human hand. This is built from delicate lines, yet it sits amidst a jumble of marks. It’s this combination of control and chaos that really grabs me. The tonal range across the whole piece is limited, but effective. The grayness gives it a kind of ghostly quality, which contrasts with the exoticism of the image. The poster reminds me of Odilon Redon's prints. Both artists share this strange, symbolist leaning and a love of the monochrome. Ultimately, it’s the drawing's ambiguity that makes it so engaging. It's not about knowing exactly what you're looking at, but about feeling something.