Etalage van boekhandel Francis Edwards te Londen before 1978

This watercolor painting captures the Francis Edwards bookstore in London. The architectural style, with its orderly rows of windows, presents a façade that promises enlightenment, a temple of knowledge, and recalls the classical emphasis on order and reason. The figures on the street, seemingly drawn to the bookstore, remind me of the "flâneur," wandering souls drawn to cultural artifacts, much like moths to a flame. One figure, shrouded in black, evokes images of scribes or scholars of old, dedicated to learning and contemplation. This symbolic figure echoes across time, reappearing in various guises from medieval monks to modern academics, each representing humanity's unyielding quest for understanding. The cyclical presence of this figure reinforces the idea that our search for knowledge is a timeless journey, constantly revisited, and forever evolving.