Briefkaart aan Jeanne Henriette Hijmans Possibly 1904

This is Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof’s ‘Briefkaart aan Jeanne Henriette Hijmans’, made on paper sometime around 1904. You can see the ghost of a message and address, but what’s really cool are the official stamps and seals. It’s like the government added its own abstract marks. I find myself drawn to the circular stamp, it's a chaotic layering of numbers and letters, yet somehow it feels balanced, almost like an abstract expressionist painting, like Cy Twombly but official! The paper itself has aged, giving it a warm tone that makes the green ink pop. It’s a reminder that even everyday objects can become art when we look at them in a certain way. Dijsselhof was known for his decorative arts, and you can see that sensibility here in the careful placement of the text and the graphic elements. It’s also interesting to think about the role of chance in this piece. The stamps weren’t necessarily meant to be aesthetically pleasing, but they ended up creating this accidental composition. It reminds me of Kurt Schwitters and the way he incorporated found objects into his collages. Art is everywhere!