Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1926

Vittorio Pica sent this brief card to Philip Zilcken in 1926. The ink is light, and you can see the way the ink bleeds slightly into the paper, it’s not about a perfect line, more about capturing a moment in time. The handwriting, with its looping ascenders and descenders, creates a kind of rhythm across the card. See how the words aren't just information; they're also marks, like brushstrokes. The stamps, too, with their faded colours and the cancelled postmark, add to this sense of time passing. It's like a little dance between the formal elements—the lines, shapes, and colours—and the personal message. Notice the blot of ink above Pica’s signature, like a little accident, a small explosion of ink. It makes me think of Cy Twombly, with his scribbled, poetic surfaces, but in miniature. This card isn't trying to be grand or perfect, but there’s a similar embrace of imperfection, of the beauty in the everyday. Art isn't just about what's in a frame, but about how we connect, how we share a bit of ourselves across time and space.