Brief aan Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack Possibly 1911 - 1917

This letter to Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack was written by Jan Veth in 1911. It feels as though the artist is writing spontaneously, the handwritten marks flowing across the page like thoughts captured in real-time. I wonder what was going through Veth’s mind as he composed this letter? The gentle curves of the lettering evoke a sense of intimacy, as if we’re eavesdropping on a private conversation. You can almost feel the scratch of the pen on paper, the ink bleeding slightly into the fibers. Imagine the artist carefully forming each word, the pressure of the pen varying with the ebb and flow of his thoughts. Maybe he paused between sentences, considering his words carefully, or perhaps he wrote with a burst of energy, eager to convey his message. It reminds me of Cy Twombly’s scribbled paintings, where the act of writing becomes a form of abstract expression. All these artists across time are in conversation, exchanging ideas, inspiring creativity, expressing themselves in ways that embrace ambiguity and uncertainty.