Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1918

This handwritten letter to Philip Zilcken was composed in The Hague by Jean-Jacques Salverda de Grave on July 27, 1918. It’s so cool to see an artist’s handwriting – the way the words trail across the page. You can feel him leaning over the letter, really focusing. I imagine the letter was written quickly, intuitively, as if the thoughts were spilling onto the page as fast as he could get them down. The ink is this beautiful shade of gray, but the pressure varies, so some words appear darker than others. There’s something very physical about the presence of handwriting, isn't there? The artist is conversing with another artist about making art. This letter shows an ongoing exchange of ideas. It's like he's inviting us into his creative process, embracing the ambiguity and uncertainty. Artists are so cool, right?