Brief aan Willem Bogtman Possibly 1922

This letter to Willem Bogtman was written in 1922 by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst. You can see where the pen has scratched across the surface of the page, the pressure applied with feeling. I wonder what Roland Holst was thinking when he made this. Did he labour over the words, or did they spill out of him like a torrent? Did he pause, reflecting on each sentence? Was he thinking about painting, life, love, or loss? You feel the artist has a sensitivity to the world. It's like he’s trying to connect, to reach out and touch someone with his words, sharing a little piece of himself. This letter is a reminder that artists are people, just like us, with their own thoughts, feelings, and experiences. And when we look at a piece of art, we're not just looking at an object, but we're also connecting with another human being.