Brief aan anoniem Possibly 1913 - 1917

Editor: So, here we have August Allebé's "Brief aan anoniem," possibly from between 1913 and 1917. It's ink on paper, depicting what seems to be a vintage letter. There's a delicate sadness about it, almost like a whispered secret. What do you see when you look at this, and what feelings arise? Curator: You know, I think that sadness you’re picking up on resonates. For me, it’s less about a secret, though perhaps a lost connection, a thread almost severed. It reminds me of rummaging through old family letters, imagining the hand that wrote those flowing words, wondering about the story unfolding between sender and recipient. Look closely at the stamp, at the cancellation mark, GRAVENHAGE 1913, imagine what was going on in the world then. Do you think that context shifts your view? Editor: Absolutely! It places the letter in a very specific moment in time, and it becomes more than just paper and ink. Suddenly it's a relic from a particular world on the verge of the First World War. I start thinking, who was Allebé writing to? And why anonymously? Curator: Precisely. Allebé was a renowned professor. It’s intriguing he might send something anonymously – perhaps for discretion, perhaps playfulness. Maybe he was experimenting with new techniques, observing from a detached standpoint and recording through imagery a silent story with a single stamp in The Hague! What's amazing, I feel like I am intruding into some private communication of the artist. Editor: I love how the history and mystery combine. I definitely see so much more complexity in what at first seemed like a simple letter! Curator: Yes. Art makes me think a lot! It shows me the new realities I might not have paid attention to earlier in life, now you should also develop such thinking so that the real artist inside you emerges!