Prentbriefkaart aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1911 - 1914

This postcard to Philip Zilcken is all about process; the beautiful, barely legible process of handwriting. The ink swirls and dances across the card, a kind of controlled chaos. You can almost feel Stengelin’s hand moving, see him leaning over, absorbed. It reminds you that art is so often about time and gesture. Each stroke, each loop, a record of a moment. I love the way the words are piled on top of each other, obscuring the official text of the postcard. It’s like Stengelin is saying, “My message is more important than your rules!” Look at how the lines thicken and thin, how some words are dark and bold, others fade into the background. It’s a visual poem, full of energy and feeling. Thinking about other artists whose work embraces text; Cy Twombly maybe, or closer to our time, someone like Jean-Michel Basquiat, who made language a central part of his visual vocabulary. Art, like language itself, is always evolving, always open to new interpretations, and I see that legacy here.