Brief aan Anna Dorothea Dirks Possibly 1926

This is a letter, written by Johan Huizinga, and it's all about the process, right there in the handwriting itself. Look at the way the ink flows, thin in places, thicker in others, depending on the pressure. You can almost feel the nib of the pen scratching across the surface of the paper. It's like a dance, a conversation between the writer and the page. The letter forms a kind of drawing, a gestural record of Huizinga’s thoughts. Each word is laid down with care, reflecting a certain state of mind. The serifs on the letters have a delicate touch. It’s easy to imagine the writer pausing, considering each word before committing it to the page. You get the sense that writing, like art, is about making choices, about finding the right way to express an idea. It reminds me a little of Cy Twombly, in its looseness and intimacy. Art is all about this kind of intimate exchange across time and space.