Prentbriefkaart aan Willem Bogtman Possibly 1922 - 1929

Editor: We're looking at a postcard titled "Prentbriefkaart aan Willem Bogtman" by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst, probably from the 1920s. It’s a pen drawing on paper. What immediately strikes me is the contrast between the formal printed postcard layout and the intimate handwritten script and sketch. What do you make of this piece? Curator: Intriguing. I observe the layering of marks. Notice how the calligraphic quality of the handwriting functions almost as another drawing, interacting with the rigid lines of the printed form. Consider how the stamp placement further disrupts the surface, introducing another shape and texture. Editor: So you’re seeing the writing itself as part of the visual composition, not just as a message? Curator: Precisely. Erase the legible content for a moment. Observe the arrangement of dark strokes and how they distribute weight across the surface. Ask yourself how the artist uses line quality – its thickness, its direction – to create a sense of movement, or perhaps, imbalance. Editor: It feels a bit chaotic, now that I see it that way, a contrast to the rigid printed layout. It also emphasizes its practical function and invites to touch it and see it for real. Curator: Precisely, what at first seems a very commonplace and unassuming artifact turns out to show that through the artistic means available a certain rhythm, visual complexity is developed in an artifact from the mundane, making it worthwhile looking into. Editor: That's given me a new appreciation for everyday objects. Thank you. Curator: My pleasure. Always look for the inherent formal relationships, for the dialogue the parts of it have with one another, and how these generate tension, and you might be in for a surprise.