Briefkaart aan Andries Bonger before 1908

Editor: This is "Briefkaart aan Andries Bonger," a drawing in ink on paper by Emile Bernard, made before 1908. It looks like a postcard covered in very neat handwriting. The overall impression is intimate, like peeking into someone’s personal correspondence. What catches your eye about this little piece? Curator: It’s like holding a captured moment, isn't it? The ink bleeds a little into the paper, and the script almost becomes an abstract pattern in itself. Bernard seems to be thanking Andries Bonger for a card, possibly for a birthday, but also sets up his journey to Holland! To me, these types of personal postcards give insights to daily lives during those periods. I find it intriguing, imagining the circumstances in which this was penned, what do you make of its visual weight on such small form? Editor: That's fascinating, it didn't strike me as particularly emotional at first glance, more of a transactional gesture than one laden with feeling. Curator: Perhaps, though consider the act itself. Handwriting a letter versus sending a telegram for instance. Doesn't the gesture speak louder sometimes than words? Do you think the intended audience, Bonger, was just a friendly acquaintance? Editor: That’s true. I hadn't considered the intimacy of the handwritten form. I suppose there’s an element of performance, even vulnerability, in laying out your thoughts so carefully on paper, in contrast to digital communication nowadays. It gives me something new to think about. Thanks! Curator: Indeed! It is about looking at an artist's work with context. Consider this and it could create new layers of interpretations. It gives so much texture, doesn't it? Thanks for this insight too!