Brief aan Jan Veth Possibly 1906 - 1909

This is a letter, titled "Brief aan Jan Veth," written in 1905 by Cornelis Hofstede de Groot. It's not paint on canvas, but it’s another kind of mark-making that artists do. I wonder, what's going through Hofstede de Groot’s head as he's hunched over his desk, pen in hand, carefully forming each word? What's the weight of his message? Is he frustrated, contemplative, or simply sharing a thought? You can see the quick scrawl of a signature across the top; an intimate salutation, which is the only moment of informality in the rigid columns of text. The letterhead is printed and ordered, but the body of the letter is typed with an old typewriter. It reminds me that artists, like Hofstede de Groot, are constantly engaging in a silent conversation across time, responding to each other’s ideas, pushing boundaries, and finding new ways to communicate. This letter is another form of expression – a sharing of ideas, and inspiration.