Briefkaart aan Jan Veth Possibly 1889

This is "Briefkaart aan Jan Veth" by Jac van Looij. It's difficult to pinpoint its precise date but likely around 1900 when van Looij was actively corresponding with fellow artists. The postcard's visual organization is striking. We see the systematic arrangement of seals and handwriting which creates a structured yet intimate composition. The cursive script has a flowing quality, contrasting with the rigid typography of the postal markings, and the stamps, each a signifier of official communication. The use of handwriting destabilizes established meanings, values, or categories. The materiality of the paper, marked with the traces of transit, adds another layer. The purple seals and the handwritten words become signs within a semiotic system of communication. It is a fragment of a dialogue between artists, an aesthetic object whose meaning lies not just in its explicit content but in the very structure of its making and transmission.