Brief aan jonkheer Hendrik Teding van Berkhout (1879-1969) Possibly 1932

Harrie Kuyten wrote this letter in Amsterdam on January 2nd, 1932. Just imagine him, pen in hand, scratching across the page, the ink bleeding slightly into the paper’s fibers. The letters lean and curve, each word a small gesture. I can almost feel the artist’s hand moving, trying to keep up with his thoughts as he tries to sell his drawings. Maybe he paused mid-sentence, searching for the right phrase, or perhaps he was interrupted, and the line slightly changes direction. That slight tremor in the signature at the bottom – is it from the cold of the studio, or the vulnerability that comes with offering up your work to the world? It reminds me how every line, every mark, carries a bit of the maker’s soul. Kuyten’s letter, with its ebbs and flows, is like a conversation across time, reminding me of the simple, human act of making and sharing art.