Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1916 - 1918

Curator: This object, believed to have been created between 1916 and 1918, is a postcard titled "Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken." It appears to have been rendered by Vittorio Pica using pen and ink on paper, showcasing examples of portraiture and calligraphy. What do you make of it at first glance? Editor: Immediately, I'm drawn into its intimate scale—like a whispered secret across time. All those stamps and postal marks layered on, like a collage of journeys and hushed anxieties. It has a tactile history. I want to hold it. Curator: Right, the layered materiality tells quite the story. The selection of relatively cheap, widely available materials speaks volumes about resource constraints during its creation—likely wartime conditions. Paper as canvas. Pen as expressive medium and logistical necessity. Even the postal system itself plays a vital part in art history and distribution. Editor: Absolutely. It’s as if the postal system is almost a collaborator here. Imagine the labor involved in each individual postmark—and who applied them. I'm trying to decipher the handwriting. It seems like a moment captured, fleeting, urgent perhaps. A bit of human contact sent outward. Curator: Well, looking closer, one could argue its style and layout borrows visual cues from the Italian Renaissance tradition. Note the emphasis on line work, form and the construction of layered space. But those components get fragmented, decentralized by its inherent ephemerality as a means of wartime communication. Editor: So interesting you point that out—those Renaissance echoes—distorted by a century of progress and global conflict. The physical weight of stamps over script reminds me of fading memories fighting to stay in focus. Curator: Indeed, considering these aspects – from material access to Renaissance art influences – gives the postcard greater dimension. Editor: Yes, a single paper embodies human longing.