Brief aan Jan Veth Possibly 1918

This is a letter from 1918 by Jac van Looij, crafted with ink on paper, a direct, unfiltered expression of his thoughts. The handwriting, dense and flowing, feels like a stream of consciousness, each word chasing the last as if the thoughts were too urgent to keep up. I can almost feel van Looij hunched over his desk, the dim light casting shadows as he scratches away at the page. What’s on his mind? Art, language, perhaps a touch of intellectual sparring with his correspondent. The texture of the writing is thick, almost palpable, full of personal intention and an attitude. You can see the influence of the Dutch masters in his attention to detail, but here, it’s channeled into a more intimate form. Letters like this are a reminder that artists are always in conversation, trading ideas and pushing each other forward, even across time. It shows that art-making, in any form, is a deeply human endeavor.