Blijdorp, Zaltbommel en Friedrichsfeld Possibly 1941 - 1949

This page from an anonymous album, probably made in 1944, consists of photos interspersed with childlike drawings. I can imagine this album page coming into being slowly, shifting and emerging through love, grief, and intuition. What’s so striking is the contrast between the formal nature of the photographic portraits and the free abandon of the crayon drawings of flowers. What was going through the artist’s mind at this time, how did they feel when they made it? There’s something endearing and heartbreaking about the juxtaposition of the black and white photos and the naivety of the drawings. They’re in conversation, not unlike artists across time inspiring one another’s creativity, in an ongoing exchange of ideas. Painting is a form of embodied expression, open to multiple interpretations, allowing for ambiguity and uncertainty.