Dagboeknotities c. 1915 - 1921

Willem Witsen made this page of diary notes with pen and ink. Looking at this page, I can almost feel Witsen’s hand moving across the paper. It’s like a dance, a private conversation captured in ink. The surface is filled with tightly packed handwriting, a dense, textured field. You can sense the pressure of the pen, the slight variations in line thickness that give the writing a subtle rhythm. See how the lines occasionally blur or thicken, betraying a momentary pause or a change in pace? It’s like the artist is thinking aloud, letting the pen follow the twists and turns of his thoughts. It makes me think about the relationship between seeing and reading, how the patterns in the writing and the shapes of the letters all contribute to an overall mood. This reminds me of Cy Twombly’s scribbled canvases. Both artists used text as a form of drawing, turning words into abstract shapes that capture a moment in time. It’s a reminder that art isn’t just about what you see, but also about how you see it.