Brief aan Jan Ponstijn en Henriëtte Johanna Petronella van Hilten Possibly 1936

This letter was composed by Leo Gestel in 1936, with pen and ink. Just look at the range of marks he gets with the simplest of means! Gestel’s handwriting is dense and flowing, each word a miniature landscape of peaks and valleys. Notice how the ink pools in certain areas, creating dark, almost sculptural forms, then thins out to delicate hairlines elsewhere. There’s a real sense of immediacy, of the hand moving across the page in a kind of dance. See the way certain letters loop and extend, almost like vines reaching out for support. There’s an interesting parallel here with the work of Cy Twombly, who also explored the expressive potential of handwriting. But where Twombly’s work often feels monumental and expansive, Gestel’s letter is intimate, personal. It reminds us that even the most ordinary materials can be transformed into something beautiful and profound.