Briefkaart aan Willem Bogtman before 1926

This is the back of a postcard sent by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst, a Dutch artist, designer, and writer, to Willem Bogtman. Though undated, the postmark suggests it was sent in 1945. Roland Holst came from a privileged background, and his socialist beliefs put him at odds with the social structures of the Netherlands at the time. The postcard itself is addressed to Bogtman in Haarlem, bearing a Dutch stamp. While seemingly a simple piece of correspondence, it embodies the social network of artists and intellectuals. It is a modest expression of connection against the backdrop of a world in turmoil after WWII. The historian, in piecing together the lives and relationships of those involved, can reveal the subtle ways in which artists like Holst engaged with the institutions and social conditions of their time. The postcard's surface simplicity belies the richness of the social history it carries.