Omslagontwerp voor: Tijdschrift voor boek- en bibliotheekwezen, 1903 1903

This is Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries's cover design for "Tijdschrift voor boek- en bibliotheekwezen," created in 1903. Look at the way the red ink sits on the graph paper, like it's a blueprint, something still in formation. It's a process unfolding right before our eyes! Notice how the red lines, a single colour, have an almost tangible quality. You can almost feel the scratch of the pen, the pressure of the hand that guided it. The lines are bold, declarative, and yet they dance with a certain lightness and grace. Take the bird symbol in the centre. Is it an owl? Is it a strange heraldic device? For me it's an emblem of possibility, of open-endedness, where meaning is never fixed, but rather emerges through the act of looking, of feeling, of connecting. It reminds me of Hilma af Klint, another artist who explored the symbolic potential of simple shapes and forms. Like her, de Vries invites us to enter into a space of contemplation.