Brief aan Jan Veth Possibly 1906 - 1908

This is a letter to Jan Veth by Wilhelm von Bode, probably written with a dip pen and iron gall ink. Imagine the artist hunched over a desk, the scratching of the nib, the thought process captured in the page. It’s interesting to think about how handwriting functions as a record of the mind. Each stroke holds a little piece of the writer’s consciousness. It’s about how our thoughts manifest physically. I am also a writer and painter, so I know how that feels when the thing emerges as a result of a deep conversation with oneself. It’s like, the pen or brush becomes an extension of the nervous system. There’s something intimate about seeing someone's handwriting. It feels almost like getting a peek inside their head. Every artist is in conversation with artists from the past. Thinking about these artists working and inspiring each other across time—it’s about the uncertainty and open-endedness.