Brief aan Felix Stone Moscheles before 1916

This letter to Felix Stone Moscheles, by Matthijs Maris, is a flurry of thoughts and questions, dashing across the page in black ink. Imagine Maris, pen in hand, wrestling with ideas about politics, intrigue, and the weariness of the world. You can almost feel the energy of his mind at work! Look at how the words spill out, some sentences trailing off, others underlined for emphasis. The handwriting itself is a kind of drawing, a gestural expression of his inner state. I wonder what was going on in his life at the time? Was he feeling cynical, or just playfully philosophical? The references to Tacitus and Bolingbroke suggest he was deeply engaged with history and political thought. The letter form really lets you get up close and personal with the artist, you can really imagine him writing this. It reminds me that art, in all its forms, is a way of grappling with the complexities of life, and of inviting others into that process.