Briefkaart aan Jan Veth before 1897

Jac van Looij composed this correspondence to Jan Veth as a brief note, likely in the late 1890s. Its materials are a commercially printed postcard, ink, and the postal markings of its journey. What interests me is the relationship between this intimate message and the rise of mass communication at the time. Here, the handwritten element is key. The strokes of ink are gestural, embodying the artist's personal touch. In contrast, the printed text and stamps evoke the impersonality of an emerging postal system, reliant on industrial processes and a network of labor. The stamps, official emblems of government authority, speak to the increasing regulation of everyday life. The card itself is evidence of the democratization of image distribution. Suddenly, anyone could obtain and send a picture – a transformation enabled by industrial printmaking. By using this relatively new technology, Van Looij engages with broader social shifts, embedding the artistic practice within a modernizing world. This combination of personal expression and mass-produced media complicates any simple distinction between art and everyday communication.