Brief aan Jan Ponstijn en Henriëtte Johanna Petronella van Hilten Possibly 1938

Curator: We’re looking at “Brief aan Jan Ponstijn en Henriëtte Johanna Petronella van Hilten” by Leo Gestel, possibly from 1938. It’s a drawing in ink on paper and is currently held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: My first thought? Intimate. Vulnerable. It's just... a letter. You can feel the immediacy of the handwriting, the slight slant, almost as if I’m reading someone’s personal thoughts. Curator: The fact that it's a letter really roots it in a specific time and relationship. These were real people, communicating during a period marked by significant social and political tension in Europe. It brings forth questions around personal connections within a broader, turbulent backdrop. Editor: Right! Makes me wonder, what kind of weight did these "ordinary" correspondences carry? We treat Gestel like this capital-A Artist, but here he's just...writing. Maybe wrestling with writer’s block or just sharing simple news. Did Jan and Henriëtte see this as Art with a capital-A? Curator: I agree. By acknowledging this history and placing the document into conversation with what we understand about Gestel's political leanings, and more generally with art from the interwar, we start seeing this piece not as only a historical fragment. We're dealing with issues of friendship, anxiety and an almost overwhelming awareness of instability in the most domestic settings. Editor: The materiality is compelling. You can see how the ink bleeds into the paper a bit. Each little blot tells a story of that particular moment, a tiny artifact of its creation. And what was Gestel feeling, holding this very page as they wrote? Curator: These small imperfections make it deeply personal. The style, seemingly offhand, adds to its allure and gives the document a very immediate emotional quality that would, if displayed alongside his oil paintings for instance, show the many dimensions of this Dutch artist. Editor: For me, this reveals Gestel's commitment to capturing…a real moment? I'm feeling this desire to preserve these connections, or, to just stay afloat during uncertain times, almost as if they can achieve this simply by writing each other a letter. It’s beautiful. Curator: Indeed, viewing the piece in this way allows us to see beyond just aesthetics or technique. It's a small, yet substantial window into the social, personal, and historical currents that informed Gestel’s worldview.