Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken before 1911

This briefkaart was written by Frans Smissaert sometime in the early twentieth century. It’s all in Dutch, so I can't tell you exactly what it says, but it's clearly a postcard! Look at the stamp and the beautiful, almost calligraphic handwriting. I imagine Smissaert sitting down with his pen, carefully forming each letter, thinking about the person he was writing to, maybe an art buddy like me! You know, the way the ink bleeds slightly into the paper, it’s so tactile. I bet the paper has that lovely, slightly rough texture. I bet he was thinking about his work as he wrote the card; what he was working on in the studio. As artists, we are always thinking about each other, working in our studios, and writing letters back and forth across time. Making art is kind of like writing postcards to each other. We are always in conversation!