Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1910 - 1919

This letter was written by Léonce Bénédite to Philip Zilcken in 1900. The ink is dense, almost clotted in places, as if the pen was reluctant to leave the page. It's not just the words, but the rhythm of the handwriting that grabs me—the way the lines swoop and dive, sometimes elegant, sometimes urgent. Look at how some words are so crammed together they become almost illegible, while others stretch out, as if the writer is savoring the act of writing itself. Think of the hand holding the pen, the pressure applied to each stroke, the way the thoughts flowed—or didn't—from mind to paper. Each letter is built from tiny gestures. For me, handwriting is a kind of drawing, a direct line to the maker's mind. You can see echoes of Van Gogh's letters here; the same intensity, the same feeling of being in the presence of someone wrestling with their thoughts. Art’s an ongoing conversation, isn’t it?