Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1902 - 1918

This is a letter, penned in 1902 by Albert Verwey. The swirling script immediately evokes the act of communication, a motif as old as time itself. Consider the very gesture of writing. We see the hand, guided by intellect and emotion, forming symbols meant to traverse space and time. This act echoes in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, medieval illuminated manuscripts, and even modern-day graffiti. Each instance, a human reaching out, striving to connect. The individual handwriting itself becomes a symbol, laden with the author’s personality and intent. Like the folds in a draped figure in Renaissance painting conveying emotion, the slant and pressure of each stroke here express Verwey’s inner state. The letter is a testament to our enduring need to communicate, bridging temporal gaps, and constantly reshaping our understanding of one another. It embodies the cyclical return of shared human experiences, surfacing across centuries in countless forms.