Brief aan Mien Cambier van Nooten Possibly 1939

This is a letter in Dutch written in 1938 by Dick Ket, now held in the Rijksmuseum. Ket's correspondence offers an intimate glimpse into his life and artistic practice, revealing the social and cultural context in which he operated. Ket lived a reclusive life due to a congenital heart defect. This isolation profoundly shaped his art. His letters, like this one to Mien Cambier van Nooten, provide invaluable insight into his thoughts, struggles, and relationships. The handwriting itself becomes a visual code, reflecting his physical limitations and emotional state. As an artist working outside the mainstream, Ket challenges conventional notions of artistic production. To fully understand Ket, historians rely on archival research, examining not only his artworks but also his personal writings and the broader cultural landscape of the Netherlands in the interwar period. His art reminds us that meaning is always contingent on social and institutional contexts.