Prentbiefkaart aan A. van der Boom Possibly 1932

This postcard to A. van der Boom, dating from 1931, is a field of close-packed dark marks. I can imagine Roland Holst hunched over this little rectangle, pen in hand, the words flowing out, a torrent of thoughts, wishes, and news. It’s a physical thing, writing. The pressure of the pen, the scratch of nib on paper, the way the ink bleeds or doesn't. Roland Holst has crammed his thoughts, line after line, right to the edges. Look how the letters lean and huddle together. The writing isn't just about the words. It's about the rhythm of the hand, the urgency of the message, the feel of the pen in the artist's hand. You can sense his presence, his breath on the page. It reminds me of Cy Twombly, his scrawls and scribbles, a diary of gestures. All artists are in an ongoing conversation, an exchange of marks and ideas across time. Writing, like painting, is embodied expression that embraces ambiguity, opening up multiple interpretations rather than fixed meanings.