Prentbriefkaart aan Andries Bonger before 1908

This postcard to Andries Bonger was made in 1908 by Émile Bernard; it’s a painterly gesture in the form of a piece of correspondence. It’s kind of awesome, right? Look at the cursive swoop and flow of the ink! I imagine him writing fast, barely pausing, his thoughts just tumbling onto the page. He’s telling a story about visiting Douai, describing it as ‘charming’ but the walk as ‘tiring’ and then he wishes his friend well. I bet he’s thinking about his contemporaries, you know? About Gauguin and Van Gogh, how they’re all trying to capture something real. It's like a painterly conversation across time and space. And that address! Amsterdam... It’s so human, this little message traveling across the land, carrying thoughts and feelings from one artist to another.