Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1900 - 1911

Willem Witsen wrote this letter to Philip Zilcken in 1900. I love seeing a painter’s handwriting: there is something about the line, the pressure, the rhythm – it’s like looking into the artist’s soul. I can imagine Witsen hunched over this page, his brow furrowed in concentration, carefully forming each word. The ink is dark, almost black, contrasting with the pale, creamy paper. It's easy to imagine him pausing, pen hovering mid-air as he searches for the right phrase. He wants to convey not just information, but a sense of intimacy and connection. I wonder if Witsen considered this letter a work of art in itself. Perhaps he saw it as a kind of drawing, a way to express himself through line and form, the same way he would with paint and brush. Like all artists, Witsen was surely in an ongoing conversation with the world around him, responding to his own life as well as the work of his peers.