Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1918

This card, made by Rose Imel at an unknown date, isn’t a painting in the traditional sense, but the choices of ink and the marks of the pen feel important. The sepia tones create a lovely visual harmony. I’m drawn to the loop in the cursive ‘B’ of ‘Badhuisweg’. It is such a playful form, really elegant, the kind of gesture that I would make with my brush. It's interesting how the rhythm of the handwriting creates a visual texture across the card. This card reminds me of some of the mail art I’ve seen, where the envelope becomes the canvas, like a mini, personal gallery. Thinking of that, it relates to some of the work by Ray Johnson, who saw beauty in the everyday and turned correspondence into art. Art's like that, always having a conversation across time, never fixed, always up for new meanings.