Brief aan Jan Veth Possibly 1905 - 1929

Editor: We are looking at "Brief aan Jan Veth," or "Letter to Jan Veth," potentially created between 1905 and 1929 by Jacob Pieter Moltzer. It’s an ink drawing on paper. The density of the lettering, its texture, and even the visual weight of the ink—it’s quite striking. What strikes you when you look at this piece? Curator: From a formalist point of view, the drawing presents a compelling interplay of positive and negative space. Note how the uniform application of ink and the repetitive nature of cursive lines generate a strong texture, transforming the paper surface into a nuanced field. The orientation further accentuates a hierarchy, doesn’t it? Editor: A hierarchy? In what way? Curator: Notice how Moltzer has situated the writing from the top-left to the bottom-left, seemingly grounding it to the page. The top right, left blank, functions as a stark visual pause, amplifying the density of the written content. And if you isolate each letterform, you might discover its intrinsic shape and proportion, each carefully constructed to form legible words, then unified through that rhythm across the picture plane. Editor: I see what you mean. Focusing on the pure shapes and their arrangements allows us to appreciate the careful balance Moltzer has struck here. I initially viewed this as merely a historical document, but by concentrating on the artistic choices—the spatial composition, the balance, and sheer texture of the writing— it transforms into something visually compelling. Curator: Precisely! It’s a piece where the act of writing becomes, in itself, a kind of drawing.