Brief aan anoniem Possibly 1870 - 1873

Curator: Ah, here's "Brief aan anoniem," or "Letter to Anonymous," created with ink and mixed media on paper, sometime between 1870 and 1873, by Hermanus Welsink. What are your first thoughts? Editor: It feels...intimate. Like we're peering into a very private correspondence. The script is lovely, though a bit hard to decipher, and the paper looks so fragile. I’m curious – what do you see in this piece beyond just a letter? Curator: You're right, it is intimate. Think about holding that very piece of paper – someone meticulously forming those letters. For me, beyond the specific content – which is a little difficult to parse in its entirety – I see the act of communication itself elevated. Look at the flourishes, the almost calligraphic quality of the handwriting. It's a tangible record of thought being translated into form, isn't it? Do you get a sense of what's being communicated? Editor: Not entirely. Something about ruby…and locked away? It definitely hints at secrets and maybe even a little bit of drama. But it's the materiality that grabs me. Was Welsink primarily a writer, or was visual art his focus? Curator: That’s an excellent question! From what I understand, Welsink occupied this fascinating space between the two. While this might appear as just a letter, his treatment of the page—the density of the text, the deliberate hand—transform it into something more. What have you found most compelling about Welsink’s artistic approach here? Editor: Definitely the feeling of being let in on something confidential, and how the artist gives such a prosaic object artistic flair. Curator: Absolutely. The blurring of those lines…turning the everyday into art. It prompts us to rethink how we communicate, doesn't it?