Ex libris van A.E.K. 1957

This bookplate print, designed by Hendrik (Rik) Keuterickx, is a little monochrome world. The crisp lines, achieved no doubt through careful engraving, remind me of the sort of illustration you'd see in an old fairytale. I imagine Keuterickx hunched over his workbench, meticulously carving away at the plate. What was he thinking as he rendered these allegorical figures? The weight of the wreath as they hold it aloft, the stoic expression on their faces, the initials floating in the middle, like a riddle. It feels like a tiny monument to a personal mythology, doesn't it? A.E.K.'s own emblem and a portal into their own imaginative world. I can almost smell the ink, feel the pressure of the press, and hear the satisfying "thunk" as the image transfers onto paper. It's like a secret handshake between artist and owner, binding them together in a shared love of books. It makes you wonder who A.E.K. was. What were their favorite stories? I am always curious about the person that this was made for and the place the book once inhabited.