Brief aan Liévin Amand Marie De Bast, secretaris van de Société des arts (Gent) Possibly 1824 - 1830

This is a letter penned in Rome on June 30, 1824, by Jean Baptiste Louis Maes Canini, now held at the Rijksmuseum. The letter, seemingly floating against a muted background, is structured by the artist's penmanship. The controlled lines of text, set against the off-white paper, highlight a certain tension between spontaneity and structure. Note the density of the ink and its even distribution across the page, indicating a deliberate and formal process. The layout guides us through a sequence of information – from the elegant salutation to the carefully structured body, ending with a formal closing. This arrangement reflects the artist’s intention to communicate not just information, but also to convey a sense of order and clarity. This formal structure implies a deep-seated cultural and philosophical engagement with the act of communication itself, reminding us that every element, from ink density to spatial arrangement, plays a part in conveying meaning.