Briefkaart aan Jan Veth Possibly 1906

This is a postcard by Karel Johan Lodewijk Alberdingk Thijm, and look at that handwriting. It's a script, a performance, so full of flourishes. I can see the controlled movement, the way each word curves and dips, the pressure of the pen against the paper. Imagine him, pen in hand, leaning over this card, thinking about Jan Veth, the recipient, and how best to communicate, maybe an idea or a simple hello. Those loops and lines, they're like little dances, each one deliberate, each one carrying a bit of the artist’s personality. It reminds me of Cy Twombly's scribbles, those layered, chaotic lines that somehow coalesce into something meaningful. Maybe Thijm was also onto something similar, using the act of writing as a way to explore thought and feeling. And the postmarks, those faded circles and stamps, are like ghosts of journeys past, marking time and place. It's a whole language there, a form of embodied expression, and just like painting, it embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.