Brief aan Willem Bogtman Possibly 1926 - 1929

This letter was written by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst in 1926 with ink on paper, and it’s just bursting with the energy of its making. Can you imagine him hunched over his desk, the scratch of the pen against the paper, the almost frenetic pace of his thoughts spilling onto the page? I feel like Holst is wrestling with language here, each stroke a little battle between intention and accident, each word a deliberate yet spontaneous act. It’s like he’s trying to pin down a thought, a feeling, something just out of reach. I can see him pausing, maybe mid-sentence, to consider his words, then diving back in with renewed vigor. There's a tension in the pressure of the pen, a dance between control and letting go. This piece reminds me that artists—writers, painters, whatever—are always in conversation, across time and space. We’re all just trying to make sense of the world in our own messy, imperfect way. Holst is inviting us to join him in the delightful chaos of creation.