Conceptbrief aan anoniem en conceptbrief aan Anna Allebé Possibly 1911 - 1924

This handwritten letter was composed in 1919 by August Allebé. Just look at the loops and tails of his handwriting—they're almost like abstract marks, like the gesture of a hand moving across a page. You can almost see the artist's hand moving, and changing, and correcting as he writes. I can imagine Allebé hunched over his desk, pen in hand, carefully crafting each word. What was he thinking as he wrote? Was he struggling to find the right words, or did they flow effortlessly from his pen? Did he pause, mid-sentence, lost in thought, before continuing? It seems like he is trying to communicate in a very personal way. The texture of the paper, the ink bleeding slightly into the fibers... These material aspects of writing are just as important as the words themselves. I wonder if it was raining that day, and if the sound of the rain influenced his writing. For me, this piece is a reminder that artists are always in conversation with one another, even across time and space.