Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1908

Charles van Wijk penned this letter to Philip Zilcken, using ink on paper. You know, the kind of letter you might just dash off, a quick communication with a friend. The cursive has an energy, a forward motion that is very of the hand and arm, like the feeling I get when I paint quickly. Even though it’s just a letter, it strikes me as an act of art making. Look at the way the loops and tails of the letters drift and lean, creating texture across the page. There is a rhythm to the marks. It’s almost musical. I'm thinking of Cy Twombly's scrawls, and how he elevated the simple gesture into a high art form. Van Wijk is doing something similar here. Both artists remind us that even the simplest act of communication can be beautiful, full of feeling, and of course, open to endless interpretations.