Brief aan Ab Bogtman Possibly 1940

This letter, written by Henriëtte Roland Holst-van der Schalk, feels like a sketch in ink, each word a stroke, building up to a complex emotional terrain. The dark ink on paper reminds me of the urgency of thought, the need to capture fleeting ideas before they vanish. Look at the loops and swirls of her handwriting. The pressure varies, creating a rhythm, a pulse. The letters lean and dance, some crowding together, others stretching out, as if gasping for air. Notice how certain words are emphasized, underlined by the sheer force of her hand. It’s a visual representation of her inner world, her thoughts and feelings laid bare on the page. It makes me think of Cy Twombly’s scribbled canvases, where language and gesture merge into a single, expressive form. Art, like a letter, is a conversation, a way of reaching out, of sharing our thoughts and experiences across time and space, even when the meaning remains elusive.