Brief van Willem Drees aan de schenker van het schelpenportret Possibly 1967

This is a letter written by Willem Drees in 1967, expressing his thanks. You know, when you look at handwriting like this, it's really immediate. The ink is blue, flowing across the page. It's so different from the digital writing we do now, there's a kind of vulnerability to it. There's a rhythm in the up and down strokes, and in that way it reminds me of Cy Twombly. You can almost see Drees thinking as he goes, the pen acting like an extension of the mind. It’s a bit like automatic drawing, where the form comes from the process, and not the other way around. Look at how the words cluster together, then spread out. It’s a little map of his thoughts, right there on the page. When you look at this letter, remember that art is always a conversation, an exchange. It's about how we see, and how we share what we see.