Overlijdensbericht aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1927

This announcement from 1927, issued by the board of Pulchri Studio, bears solemn tidings: the death of G. Henkes. The stark, unadorned typography speaks volumes. Consider the act of announcing death itself, a ritual as old as civilization. From the ancient Egyptians inscribing hieroglyphs on sarcophagi to the somber pronouncements of town criers, humanity has sought ways to mark the passage from life to death. Here, the printing press serves as the medium. The very act of memorializing, regardless of the medium, reveals our deep-seated need to grapple with mortality, to find a place for the departed within the continuum of existence. Just as the Laocoön sculpture captures the agony of human suffering, this simple announcement, stripped of ornamentation, evokes a similar emotional chord. It reminds us that death, in its stark finality, is the great leveler, a force that transcends time and culture, compelling us to contemplate our own fleeting existence.