Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1916

This is a letter to Philip Zilcken from 1916, written by Fridolin Marinus Knobel. You can see the artist really leaning into the rhythm of handwriting, creating a visual music with the curving lines. The ink sits on the page, thick and dark, so sure of itself. Look at the confident loops of the 'L' in 'Liecken', how they dance across the page. It reminds me of Cy Twombly's scribbled paintings, where the act of writing becomes a kind of drawing. Each word is a gesture, a physical movement recorded in time. The texture of the paper, slightly rough, probably added to the feeling of resistance and connection. And isn’t it wild how the slant and pressure vary, like the artist's breath on the page? This letter makes me think about how we all leave traces of ourselves behind, in the things we make, the words we write, and the way we move through the world. Just like in painting, it’s not about perfection, but about the process of becoming.