Prentbriefkaart aan Willem Bogtman Possibly 1924 - 1929

Curator: At first glance, there is a frenetic energy to this handwritten postcard. The overlapping strokes, the barely legible text… it’s a visual cacophony. Editor: Precisely. This piece, attributed to Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst, is titled "Prentbriefkaart aan Willem Bogtman," or Picture Postcard to Willem Bogtman. Its date is uncertain, likely somewhere between 1924 and 1929. Holst executed it using ink and pen on paper. Curator: So, it’s a communication, but treated almost as a work of art itself. It elevates a simple postal exchange, focusing, as Holst does, on line and texture. Observe the density of the script in contrast to the relatively blank space surrounding it. Editor: Consider also the Symbolist undercurrent within Post-Impressionism influencing the work. It is being held in the Rijksmuseum because, for a cultural institution to consider an everyday postal card an artwork, reveals that the conceptual framework defining "art" had radically changed since its creation. Curator: A shift enabled by figures like Duchamp who disrupted the boundaries of artistic expression by presenting commonplace objects for aesthetic consideration. But this work lacks the stark coolness of a readymade. There is an inherent human quality revealed through Roland Holst's script and illustrative handling of the medium. Editor: Yes, each stroke resonates. The postcard's handwritten nature signifies a form of intimacy now almost lost, where thoughts, even mundane ones, were transferred directly from hand to paper, linking sender and recipient in a uniquely tactile way. Curator: Indeed, the tension between its utilitarian purpose and inherent artistic quality makes for a fascinating object. One that speaks to the fluidity of art and its cultural context. Editor: I'm left pondering on art history's habit of preserving a record that can also alter our perspective of everyday historical accounts.