Brief aan Philip Zilcken 1911 - 1930

This is Rose Imel’s handwritten letter, probably written with a fountain pen. It flows from top to bottom in elegant lines of cursive—just look at the way those words cascade down the page. You can almost feel Imel’s presence in the letter, her thoughts and feelings made visible through the pressure of her hand, and the particular loops and curves of her script. What was she thinking as she wrote? Was she in a hurry, or did she take her time, carefully forming each word? Was it difficult for her to communicate, or did the right words just flow out of her? I imagine her sitting at her desk, pen in hand, wrestling with her thoughts, line by line. The whole thing reminds me that artists are always in dialogue with one another, sharing ideas, and inspiring creativity across time. Letters like this show how painting is an embodied expression that embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, inviting multiple interpretations and meanings beyond fixed or definitive readings.