Ontwerp voor titelpagina voor: Stijn Streuvels, Reinaert de Vos, 1910 c. 1910

Bernard Willem Wierink designed this title page for "Reinaert de Vos" by Stijn Streuvels in 1910. It’s all straight lines and right angles, with the lettering and ornaments sitting neatly on the page. I can just imagine Wierink at his drawing board, carefully inking in all the details, the little lions, the geometric patterns, the Art Nouveau flourishes. Maybe he was listening to music, or maybe he was just totally focused on the task at hand. What was he thinking about while he worked? Did he have a clear idea of what he wanted to achieve, or did the design emerge gradually, through trial and error? And who was Stijn Streuvels? What kind of book was "Reinaert de Vos"? I want to find out more, to connect the dots between Wierink's design, Streuvels's story, and the wider world of early 20th-century Dutch art and literature. That’s how art history works – each piece is a starting point for a journey of discovery.