Brief aan Anna Dorothea Dirks Possibly 1926

This letter to Anna Dorothea Dirks is an invitation to imagine Johan Huizinga holding a pen, likely filled with dark ink, poised above this pale page. The words trail across the surface, like a meandering path of thought, veering off course and doubling back. The letters have a kind of shaky determination, don’t they? I imagine Huizinga, perhaps hunched over a desk, lost in thought, trying to forge a connection through the simple act of writing. The slight variations in pressure and speed, all recorded there on the page. Each word contributes to the overall impression of intimacy. It reminds me a little of Cy Twombly, but in miniature. Both artists share a love of line, gesture, and the power of suggestion. Ultimately, both are speaking to a sense of vulnerability. Their work embraces a looseness and openness that invites the viewer to participate, to fill in the gaps, and to find their own meaning within the strokes.