Brief aan Willem Bogtman Possibly 1922 - 1931

This handwritten letter, addressed to Amia and dated May 31st, 1922, is composed with what looks like a fountain pen. The ink is quite light in places, almost faded, and in others it’s thick and dark. You can see the way the writer allows the ink to pool slightly at the end of some strokes. I love how the text sort of meanders across the page, bunching up and spacing out—there’s a real rhythm to it. Look at the way the ascenders and descenders of the letters create their own kind of abstract pattern. It's as if the words themselves are little drawings and the handwriting itself becomes a form of expression. In a way, a letter like this is like a little sketch; it reminds me a little of Cy Twombly’s scribbled notations, or even some of the concrete poets who treat text as a kind of visual material. Letters are a conversation frozen in time.