Brief aan Willem Bogtman Possibly 1925 - 1931

This is a letter by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst to Willem Bogtman, dated August 31st, 1925, and made with pen and ink on paper. It’s a letter, but it has a really raw, intimate feel, like a painting in words and images. I imagine Roland Holst hunched over his desk, the nib of his pen scratching across the page, each stroke a deliberate act of communication. The ink is thick and dark, giving the lines a real physical presence. He’s both writing and drawing, blurring the line between the two. It's kind of hard to decipher his handwriting but he has drawn a self-portrait. What was he thinking when he made it? Is it a reflection of his inner state? Roland Holst was part of a generation of artists deeply engaged with the written word and the letterform. This piece feels like a continuation of that dialogue. Artists are always in conversation, you know, borrowing and riffing off each other's ideas across time. For me, that’s what makes painting—and art in general—so exciting.