Brief aan Héloïse Bernard-Bodin 1878 - 1941

This is a letter written in 1897 by Emile Bernard, and the blue ink really sings against the page. I imagine him hunched over a desk somewhere, his pen scratching away, driven by the urgency of needing to communicate. The script itself, with its looping ascenders and descenders, feels both intimate and urgent, almost as if the words are tumbling out of him in a rush. Look at the way certain words are emphasized, underscored with a heavier line, they almost seem to leap off the page, demanding our attention. I wonder, what was it like for Bernard to write this letter? Was he seeking connection, reassurance, or something else entirely? You can feel a sort of pressure building up in the act of writing which is so much part of the image. This everyday act of writing becomes a form of mark-making and expression, revealing not just information but the artist's inner world, so that words and images meet on the page.