Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1901 - 1919

This letter was composed in 1901 by Alexandre-Louis-Marie Charpentier, and it’s like a little painting in itself. I can just imagine him there with his pen, carefully forming each letter, each word flowing from the nib. You know, the act of writing, especially in a time before computers, it was so physical, so deliberate. The loops and curves, they remind me of brushstrokes, each one carrying a little bit of the artist's intention. I wonder what he was thinking, what was his state of mind as he wrote these words? Was he in a rush, or taking his time? The ink is thin and elegant. You can almost feel the texture of the paper, smooth and receptive under the artist’s hand. Every stroke, every word is a trace of a moment in time, and it's so cool to be able to see that connection, to feel it so viscerally. It’s a reminder that artists, like us, are always talking to each other across time, inspiring each other.