Iron Gate and Fence c. 1937

Lucien Verbeke made this drawing of an iron gate and fence at an unknown date. In this detailed rendering, the artist depicts not just a physical barrier, but a symbolic threshold. The cross and radiating halo centered above the gate hint at the culture and time in which it was likely made, a society steeped in religious tradition and hierarchy. The ornate ironwork, with its delicate curves and spear-tipped verticals, suggests a society where class divisions were materialized through architecture, marking boundaries between public and private, sacred and secular. The gate becomes a potent signifier of exclusion and access. To fully understand this drawing, we would need to explore the artistic conventions and social histories of its time, researching the symbolic language of ironwork and its use in religious or domestic architecture. Only then can we know whether this drawing critiques or reinforces the social structures of its day.