Aantekening aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1922

Curator: Here we have "Aantekening aan Philip Zilcken," possibly from 1922, created with pen and ink on paper. It’s a drawing of calligraphic notations by Vittorio Pica. What do you make of it initially? Editor: It looks like someone’s elegant to-do list…but from another century. There's a lyrical quality to the handwriting, like visual music. It evokes a strong sense of nostalgia for a time I never knew. Curator: Nostalgia is a great word. Pica seems to be chronologically recording subjects he wishes to render as artwork. Notice the recurring dates interspersed amidst the listing. This almost linear sense of marking time adds to that nostalgic feel. Each word functions like a symbol—a miniature world hinting at future, larger works. The act of noting becomes an intimate, almost devotional practice. Editor: Exactly. The simple tools—pen and paper—add to that feeling of intimacy, right? It's immediate and unpretentious, unlike, say, an oil painting. Curator: Absolutely. And the choice to create these calligraphic notes instead of something more immediately pictorial highlights the act of documentation and inscription. Consider how cultures have, for millennia, invested immense authority in written language and record keeping. Think about everything from ancient tax rolls to medieval illuminated manuscripts and then connect it to our need to make lists in the 21st century—it is essentially the same practice. It’s an attempt to order the world through written symbol. Editor: That’s fascinating. I find it poignant, too. There’s something vulnerable about committing your ideas to paper; it shows how we constantly search for meaning and connection in a transient world. It makes you wonder: who was Philip Zilcken and why send him these artistic breadcrumbs? Curator: It is all wonderfully enigmatic. Thinking about cultural continuity through something as humble as a shopping list reframes this pen-ink sketch with much greater significance, I think. Editor: For sure. I now see it as both an intimate scribble and a monumental reflection of our shared human need to create symbolic order from the flow of time.