Brief aan August Allebé Possibly 1911

Chris Huidekooper made this letter to August Allebé in 1911 using ink on paper. Look at the rhythm of the looping, the repeated downstrokes, the careful curves. I wonder if Chris felt a sense of calm as he committed thoughts to paper, each word building upon the last to create an impression. The act of writing for an artist is like the gesture of the brush stroke on a canvas. A bodily process that becomes a form of thinking, of seeing, of feeling. I can imagine Chris pausing, pen in hand, considering each word. He would have been aware of how the ink spread on the page, the texture of the paper, and the overall composition. He carefully lays out the references to other artists in history to create a conversation between them. We are all in conversation. Huidekooper, Allebé, me and you. Artists, writers, readers – we all inspire each other to think differently, to see the world in new ways.