Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1910 - 1919

This letter was written in 1900 by Léonce Bénédite. It's mostly monochromatic, as you might expect from the turn of the century, but what interests me is the handwriting itself. Look at the movement in the loops and the tails of the letters. It feels almost performative. I imagine Bénédite, pen in hand, carefully crafting each word, each phrase, with a sense of purpose. I'm curious about what he's trying to convey, the emotions he's trying to evoke. The physical act of writing is a kind of choreography—a dance between the hand, the pen, and the paper. The writer's thoughts flow onto the page. The varying pressure of the nib creates subtle variations in line weight, like the swells and dips of a musical score. These variations become expressive, adding depth and nuance to the words. It reminds me that, as artists, we're all in conversation with one another, building on the ideas and innovations of those who came before us, shaping our own unique voices in the process.