Verschillende soorten distributiebonnen behorende tot George Hendrik Breitner c. 1921 - 1922

This is a fuel distribution card belonging to George Hendrik Breitner, dating from April 1920 to March 1921, made with ink on paper. It’s anonymous, though. Someone designed this; someone had to make all those boxes, and fill in the numbers with a typewriter and stamp the fuel commision logo. The whole thing is a grid of possibilities, all these subdivisions containing hand-written text, and other kinds of information. The dominant hue is this yellowed cream tone that suggests the passing of time, evoking a sense of nostalgia. But it’s the hand-written annotations which really fascinate me. Look at the way Breitner’s name sprawls across the card. The bold curves and elegant loops seem to dance with an energy that contrasts with the rigid formality of the card's printed grid. It gives us an intimate connection to the past. I find myself thinking of the work of someone like Tomma Abts, whose abstract paintings also play with grids and structured compositions, but in a very different way. But, ultimately, both invite us to contemplate the relationship between order and freedom, control and chance.