Brief aan Philip Zilcken 1875 - 1930

This letter to Philip Zilcken was written by Isaac Israels in Amsterdam. It’s all in Dutch, of course, and written with a kind of flourish that feels both precise and off-the-cuff. The ink is dark, almost black, against the pale cream paper. The lines march across the page, but they also kind of dance, with words bunching up then stretching out. It’s the kind of handwriting you can almost feel the writer’s hand moving. Each word is clearly expressed but is also connected to the others, giving the impression of a mind at work, a clear sense of energy and flow. Look at the "A" in "Amsterdam" at the top, how the downstrokes meet in a sharp point, then swing into the next letter. Israels was a contemporary of Vincent van Gogh, and you see a similar interest in everyday life in his paintings, though with a lighter touch. Like this letter, Israels’ paintings have a directness and immediacy, a sense of capturing a fleeting moment. Art is about finding the extraordinary in the ordinary and about making connections.