Omslagontwerp voor: Het boek in 1903, 1903 1903

Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries made this cover design for ‘The Book in 1903’ using pen and brush with brown ink. Note the careful rendering of the printing press itself. De Vries uses the brown ink to impart weight and volume, and the man working the press seems almost fused to the mechanism, emphasizing his labour. The design celebrates the materiality of the book at a time when industrialization threatened traditional craftsmanship. But there is something a bit ironic here, too. This image, in all likelihood, was photographically reproduced on the cover of ‘The Book in 1903’ for mass consumption. In a way, that makes the image a memorial to the very tradition it pictures. By focusing on materials and processes, we can understand the social context of this artwork, challenging traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.