Ex libris van Frans Thuer 20th century

Curator: This piece, "Ex libris van Frans Thuer," created in the 20th century, is a drawing rendered as an etching and print. Two miniature landscapes are arranged one above the other on the paper. What’s your first take? Editor: Intimate and delicate. The tight hatching and miniature scale lend them a gem-like quality. But also, rather somber; there's something about the tonal range being limited that evokes an older time. Curator: Exactly. The landscape is a powerful and consistent image in our shared visual culture. We often associate them with escape, tranquility, a space free from social constraints, and so, perhaps with a sense of the self. But as an ex libris – literally ‘from the books of’—its purpose is to assert ownership and connection, tethering the viewer to civilization. Editor: You're speaking to the tension created by the formal aspects too: those very constrained borders. See how the composition is entirely balanced through light and dark, through an etching where a line is carefully traced, like language, rather than freely drawn? And the textures created are amazing - they imply a rough beauty that the neat box that makes them seems to constrain. Curator: I’m so interested by that observation; you pinpoint how landscape operates across social strata – from the vast estates owned by aristocrats in art historical landscapes, to the humble books owned by commoners and marked with a landscape ex libris like this. I believe the symbol is a personal vision that adds depth to what we associate with this book’s contents or perhaps to the book itself. Editor: What I like about this work is how such detail and feeling can be evoked through such limited means. Curator: It is truly compelling how enduring themes can be encapsulated within these contained, modest landscapes. Editor: Indeed. It's an object worthy of long looking and appreciation.