Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1925

This is a letter written in Paris, on May 18, 1925, by Charles Snabilié to Philip Zilcken, penned with what looks like a steel nib and dark brown ink. The hand is quite legible, the letters carefully formed, but what really grabs me is the density of the text on the page, and the way the lines of script seem to push and pull against each other. The letter seems to be responding to a request for clarification regarding some account details and the sale of an atelier. It's all quite mundane but I find myself wondering about the kind of person who takes such obvious care in their everyday writing. The letter almost feels like a drawing, the words arranged on the page with compositional awareness. The writing is tight, controlled, yet manages to convey a sense of intimacy, as if the act of writing itself is a form of embrace. Think about the handwritten letters of someone like Cy Twombly, another artist who elevates mark making through writing to the level of high art, where script becomes image.