Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken before 1918

This postcard to Philip Zilcken is by Rose Imel and like any good painting, or form of correspondence, it's a record of a connection between two people. I love to imagine the artist, pen in hand, carefully inscribing each letter, each word, onto the surface of the card. What was she thinking as she wrote? Was she in love? What was going on for her that day? Look at the elegant flourishes in the handwriting, like the way she finishes the 'g' in Haag. It’s not just about communicating information, it’s about the pleasure of the hand moving across the page, leaving its mark. Even the stamp becomes part of the composition. Its delicate color and tiny details speak to the artist’s attention to detail, and her awareness of the whole picture. Painters, just like letter writers, are in a constant conversation with each other across time. This postcard reminds me that every gesture, every mark, is part of an ongoing dialogue about what it means to be human, to connect, to leave a trace of our existence behind.