Brief aan Philip Zilcken 1872 - 1930

This letter to Philip Zilcken, written by Barbara Elisabeth van Houten, feels like a drawing, or maybe a painting. The ink meanders across the page, it's dark and bold, confident, like a quick sketch. The way the lines curve and loop, each word a little dance, it's as if she's not just writing, but letting her thoughts spill out onto the paper, unedited. I find myself focusing on one word, "Mansfeld", look at the elegant M and the way she descends with a flourish on the ‘d’. Imagine her hand moving across the page, the pressure of the pen, the rhythm of her thoughts. The translucent paper reveals the trace of what is written on the back, so that each side of the paper speaks to the other. It reminds me of Cy Twombly, in its energy and the way it makes writing into art. It's not just about what she's saying, but how she's saying it. With every stroke she shows us how art embraces ambiguity and multiple interpretations.