Telegram aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1901 - 1919

This telegram was sent by Jan Toorop, but there’s no date on it. Though, it does look like 1914, written in pencil on a printed form with official stamps. I’m imagining Toorop, leaning over a desk, writing the message in a rush. The writing feels urgent. The message is to Philip Zilcken, care of Helenivilla, in another part of the Hague, where he’s saying "Is vertaling gerued." My translation might be off, but I think it says, "Translation ready." And then, “Toorop.” I’m thinking about correspondence between artists, this exchange of ideas, gossip, friendship, and collaboration! Like the way one painter might borrow a compositional idea from another, or the colours from a painting they admired in a museum. Painters are always in conversation with each other. I can imagine Toorop, with the pencil in his hand, transmitting a message of productivity and artistic exchange, like the current of electricity flowing through the telegraph wires.