Brief aan Philip Zilcken before 1892

This is a letter to Philip Zilcken, made by Matthijs Maris, likely in the late 19th or early 20th century. It's formed with ink on paper, humble materials that were nonetheless the engine of modern communication and commerce. But what is most striking is the content. Maris, a painter, writes about the essence of an image, declaring that it is all about lines—the slope of the ground, the arrangement of animals and clouds. He laments the potential loss of the picture's integrity through excessive alteration. It's a glimpse into the artist's mind, a reflection on the act of creation itself. The letter offers a powerful contrast to the labor-intensive craft processes often associated with art. Here, the artist's work is reduced to its conceptual core. The material of the letter, like the lines it describes, becomes a vehicle for something more profound, a meditation on the very nature of art.