Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1924

Selma Boasson wrote this letter with ink on paper in Fontainebleau, 1920. Look at the way the ink almost seems to float on the page. The letters are formed with a gentle hand, each stroke deliberate yet flowing, like a dance. It's the kind of writing you find when someone is really at ease with their materials. The color palette is wonderfully simple – just the dark ink against the off-white paper, creating a quiet but confident visual harmony. You can see the slight variations in pressure as the pen moves, giving the words a three-dimensional quality. Think about each mark; it's not just about conveying information but about the sheer pleasure of making each stroke. It reminds me of the way Agnes Martin used to draw lines, each one perfect in its imperfection. The texture is smooth, but you can almost feel the paper's grain beneath the ink. It makes me think of the relationship between language and art – how both can create new ways of seeing and experiencing the world. I think of Cy Twombly, playing with text, line and form, to find that place where seeing and reading blur. Boasson does that here in a more subtle, but equally compelling way.