Briefkaart aan Willem Bogtman

This is a postcard that Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst sent to Willem Bogtman, though the date is unknown. Postcards are interesting, aren't they? They’re like little paintings, or documents of a painter’s thought. It’s an ephemeral thing, something to be shared. Holst’s handwriting loops across the card, with a stamp in the corner, already partially smeared by the franking mark. Look at the R in Roland, the way it swoops and curls, almost like it’s trying to become a little drawing in itself. There's something so intimate about seeing someone's handwriting, it is a very direct connection to the artist themselves. The marks are quite thin, almost translucent, like a memory fading, and they give the surface of the card an interesting texture. You can tell a lot about a person from their handwriting. It’s like a fingerprint, unique to the individual. Think of Cy Twombly, who also made marks in a way that suggests an almost gestural dance. Artists are always in conversation with each other across time.