Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1895

Curator: Look at this remarkable drawing by Albrecht Felix Reicher, likely created around 1895. It's titled "Brief aan Philip Zilcken" and it’s a letter, executed in ink on paper. What strikes you about it? Editor: Instantly, it’s the script itself. So elegant, almost calligraphic. But the whole thing feels so... intimate. Like stumbling upon someone's private correspondence, perhaps even their personal sketchbook. Curator: Exactly. The letter, or perhaps draft, is addressed to Philip Zilcken, a prominent art critic and artist himself. You get the impression of peering into the artistic circles of the time, the correspondence that helped to fuel its engine. Reicher clearly had a lot on his mind that day. Editor: You can feel the speed of it, the urgency almost. The way he lists what I imagine are the contents of another drawing, with annotations for bronze works and cityscapes: is that Dutch I see? I love this sensation, of things unfinished, sketched rather than polished...it has an authentic vulnerability. Curator: Reicher moved in circles interested in Japonism, which may well explain references to bronze artifacts that mimic Japanese art; that may indicate how Japanese bronzes might be integrated within his practice or interests. The drawing highlights the artist’s creative thought process and material interests. Editor: Art history tends to sanctify everything and so often one forgets that creativity comes out of the hustle and bustle and ordinary conversations and banal interactions. "Brief aan Philip Zilcken" just undoes all that pretense. It humanizes the past. Curator: Indeed. And seeing such quotidian detail brings the context to life in the rawest possible way. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Editor: My pleasure.