Ex libris van Leo Schreiner 1934

This is a drawing by Alexander Pock, made sometime between the late 19th and early 20th century, a bookplate for Leo Schreiner. The ink is pale brown, and it’s got a scratchy energy, like Pock really wanted to get every single detail down. All those tiny lines give the castle this overwhelming sense of being… overdone. I mean, look at all those little windows, all those tiny towers. The bookplate shows the artist's skill but also, I think, some ambivalence. It’s like Pock is both celebrating and critiquing the idea of a castle as a symbol of power and importance. And what about those ships in the background? They seem to be moving away from the castle, almost like they’re escaping. Maybe Pock was thinking about the way that things change, the way that even the most impressive structures can become outdated. I think artists are always talking to each other, even across time, trying to figure out what it all means.