Kalenderbladen van januari, februari en maart, met vogels 1901

Theo van Hoytema made these calendar sheets for January, February, and March using lithography. Look at the faded quality of this print. I wonder, was he trying to capture a memory, a dream? I love the gentle palette of grays and browns. What a feeling to work with these earth tones. Imagine Hoytema drawing these birds and calendars on a stone, the pressure of the crayon in his hand, each mark contributing to the overall image. The textures feel soft, like early morning fog. The white rooster in the January sheet has such a beautiful stance! It makes me think of early modernist abstraction like Kupka, where the act of representing a familiar subject becomes a pathway to abstraction. Artists are constantly borrowing, stealing, and transforming ideas across time. It reminds us that art is not made in isolation but is an ongoing conversation between generations. In our own lives, we can embrace this same spirit of exploration and experimentation.