Ex libris voor J. Slagter (ontwerp) c. 1935 - 1940

This Ex libris voor J. Slagter is an undated sketch made by Leo Gestel, probably in pencil and ink, for a bookplate. I love how the three faces, or maybe it’s just one face split into three, seem to emerge from the dark lines. I imagine Gestel starting with light pencil marks, feeling his way through the composition, then going over them with confident strokes of ink, creating these bold graphic shapes. You can almost feel him searching for the perfect line, the one that captures the essence of the face. What would it have been like to be commissioned to make a bookplate? To create a work that shows the commissioner’s personality? I’m reminded of other artists who explored similar themes of identity and representation. It’s all part of a continuous conversation that artists have with each other, across time and space, inspiring new ways of seeing and thinking. The ambiguity of it all, is it one face, or three, allows for endless interpretations.