Briefkaart aan Willem Bogtman Possibly 1937

This is a postcard to Willem Bogtman, written by Henriëtte Roland Holst-van der Schalk. The handwriting sprawls across the card, a record of thought captured in ink. I love seeing how a person's character comes through in the way they write. Look at how the letters lean and loop, some are firm and upright, others are elongated and trailing. It's so intimate, like hearing someone's voice. The placement on the card also speaks to me, it's direct and personal. What was the message? What was their relationship? We'll never know, and that's okay! The beauty of art lies in its mystery, in the invitation to imagine and to feel. Like any painting or poem, we don't need to know everything to be moved by it. This reminds me of Cy Twombly's scribbled paintings, or the concrete poetry of Ian Hamilton Finlay, where language itself becomes the art, an image to be contemplated.