Brief aan Françoise W.M. Bonger Possibly 1964 - 1968

This letter was written with a light-gray pen on August 13th, 1964, by H. Engel to Françoise W.M. Bonger. I love this, because every painting is a kind of letter, isn't it? And look at this penmanship. Each stroke of the pen is so careful, so deliberate. You can tell that the writer wasn't just trying to get their thoughts down on paper, but to make something beautiful, something considered. You know? I imagine H. Engel sitting at his desk, mulling over the right words, then committing them to the page with a practiced hand, the pen gliding across the surface like a skater on ice. The way the loops in the letters connect and intertwine... reminds me of Cy Twombly's handwriting, or even some of Brice Marden's calligraphic paintings. It's like Engel is painting with words. It's all connected, this constant exchange between artists across time, inspiring each other, whether they know it or not.