Brief aan Pieter Haverkorn van Rijsewijk Possibly 1899

Hendrik Johannes Haverman composed this letter to Pieter Haverkorn van Rijsewijk in The Hague on August 18, 1897. The immediate impression is that of a highly ordered chaos. Numbers and neatly handwritten text give structure to the page. The letter, seemingly a list, uses penmanship as a visual architecture. Each line contains words of varying length that are carefully spaced. Words and phrases are not only semantic units but formal components that contribute to the overall design. The letter exists in a space between written communication and visual art. The act of listing—ordering and categorizing information—reflects a deeper engagement with the structures that underpin our understanding of the world. The letter invites us to consider how we organize and interpret information. In essence, it’s a semiotic exercise, where meaning is derived not only from the content of the words but from their arrangement, spacing, and the overall composition of the page.