~ Commissioning Your Bookplate~

The Gallery Page

Many collectors are visiting our website in search of information about commissioning a bookplate. Due to this popular demand we now provide the information and service to assist you with this endeavor.

Anyone who loves books can own a personalized ex libris. The only requirement is to have pride in your collection. These exquisite, affordable custom ex libris prints are original works of art are printed on fine papers and often signed in numbered editions.  Larger quantities can be produced once the artwork is completed.

This "Gallery Page" presents examples of personalized bookplate art by several contemporary artists. Incorporating your ideas, the artist can translate your tastes and interests in his/her unique style. If you do not see a style or technique that appeals to you, we can provide a catalogue of examples designed by hundreds of the finest international artists. The ASBC&D maintains a current list of names and addresses for ex libris artists from all countries.

And for those individuals or institutions with existing plates or artwork, we can provide the fine printing or engraving that you require. Please contact our association for further information. exlibrisusa@hotmail.com

Throughout the world today acknowledged masters of book illustration, printmaking and design are producing these exquisite prints. The following are short biographies of just a few of these international artists.

ARTISTS' BIOGRAPHIES:

Concepcion Elvira Provenzal Mexican artist with a lifelong devotion to arts and crafts. Concepcion is an illustrator, painter and jeweler. She is the art director for the ASBC&D and has many bookplate designs on her checklist.

“I have always loved books and I enjoy working in a small format. The art of the bookplate satisfies both of these interests. I especially enjoy the design challenge and research involved in the creation of a personalized design.”

				Concepcion Elvira Provenzal

 

Take for example the award winning works of Ukrainian book illustrator, Sergey Hrapov. You can see his unique ex libris creation for my interests in American author H.P. Lovecraft. He especially enjoys illustrating children's books - peculiar looking birds perching, courageous mice playing flutes and smiling faces all exquisitely executed utilizing mixed etching techniques.

			Sergey Hrapov

 

Witness the works of Martin Baeyens from Belgium. Martin is a master of multi-color serigraphy (screen printing) in a jazzy, abstract style. He has created over 400 bookplates in his 40-year career and has won no less than 50 awards internationally. He seeks the challenge of producing a work of art on a small surface utilizing innovations, contemporary design, color and visual content. When asked what makes a successful ex libris, Baeyens replies, "it should meet the collector's expectations. Text and image have to go hand in hand harmoniously. It has to be an artistically justified little print…"

				Martin Baeyens

American artist Serik Kulmeshkenov was originally from Kazakhstan. His outstanding works are engraved on a plastic plate. Before immigrating to the United States he had been an architect in the Soviet Union. In 1985, when Serik was 29 years old, a strange and unexpected disease slowly started to take his sight. After an operation in the year 2000 at the Mayo clinic here and with the assistance of powerful visual aids he is now able to engrave again.

Serik Kulmeshkenov

The beautiful multicolor woodblock prints of artist Katsue Inoue are superb examples of Japanese printmaking. She utilizes the traditionally meticulous processes involved in cutting the blocks and the prints are produced on the finest handmade papers. Katsue is a familiar figure with Japanese collectors and considered an important artist of our time. Her ex libris range from abstract to portraiture, landscapes, flowers and naturally, her client's ideas.

Katsue Inoue

Roy Cooney is a retired cartographer from England. Trained in the historic craft of copperplate engraving, he has continued his interests in engraving and printmaking with ex libris. Many of Roy's commissions are family coats of arms although he has created many pictorial designs. He also has special interests in producing limited edition prints of natural history and architectural subjects. In fact, the Royal Horticultural Society awarded Roy a Gold Medal in February 2000 for his botanical engravings. He says, "The last ten years working once again on copper have been a source of great pleasure. It has also been an immense delight to have made so many friends… and, through participation in ex libris and miniature art exhibitions, to have been contacted by people from many parts of the world."

		Roy Cooney

Another ex libris artist/enthusiast from Belgium is engraver, Frank-Ivo Van Damme. Frank-Ivo has designed more than 700 ex libris earning an international reputation for his widely exhibited, award-winning works. Many of his wood or copper engraved bookplates are of an erotic nature, these being highly collectible. Van Damme's fascination with world literature is shown throughout his works. As well, his interest in Greek and Roman mythology has always presented marvelous possibilities in his designs. Frank-Ivo realizes the importance of the text complementing the illustration in the overall composition and strives for a balance between these elements. With regard to engraving he says, "Work is meditation. I become one with the block of wood in front of me. I form an intimate bond with this material. I lose every sense of time. Engraving is part of my life."

Frank-Ivo Van Damme
		.

 

	ADDITIONAL ARTISTS:
	Ettore Antonini, Italy		Henk Blokhuis, Netherlands		Henk Blokhuis, Netherlands
	Patricia Nik-Dad, France		Patricia Nik-Dad, France		Elly DeKoster, Netherlands
	Derek Black, USA		Clara Hung, China		Oleg Yakhnin, Russia
	Keiko Tsurusawa, Japan		Joke Van Den Brandt, Belgium		Joke Van Den Brandt, Belgium
	Andrij Kens, Ukraine		Andrij Kens, Ukraine		Richard Wagener, USA
	Are you a bookplate artist? Find out how you can show your work here. Contact us at: exlibrisusa@hotmail.com		Yuri Borovitski, Russia		Yuri Borovitski, Russia

Ex Libris Chronicle
Director: James P. Keenan
Art Director: Concepcion Elvira Provenzal

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