Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1907 - 1911

This is ‘Brief aan Philip Zilcken’, a letter dashed off in November 1907 by Jules Rais. The ink on paper is wonderfully immediate, with a kind of casual precision, a really intimate mark making. Look at the letterhead, “Chambre des Députés” so official, but then the flowing handwriting, a personal note dashed off, the ink almost bleeding into the page. I love how the words trail and loop, as if the pen couldn’t keep up with the thoughts. It's easy to imagine the moment of its creation, the pen scratching across the page, the writer pausing, then rushing on. See how the ‘y’ in ‘Momay’ loops around, kind of joyful and free, against the formality of the letterhead. Rais's quick, almost frantic strokes remind me of Cy Twombly's handwritten paintings, all scratchy and urgent. Art's just this ongoing conversation, you know? A bunch of voices echoing back and forth, finding new ways to say the same old things.