Brief aan Filippo Tessaro Possibly 1888

Curator: Looking at this delicate, almost ephemeral drawing, what strikes you first? Editor: An urgency, a sort of quiet desperation conveyed through the spidery ink. It feels like a bottled message cast adrift. Curator: Indeed! What we’re seeing is “Brief aan Filippo Tessaro,” a piece tentatively dated to 1888 by Meijer de Haan. It’s crafted with pen and ink on paper, essentially a letter. De Haan was deeply embedded in the Post-Impressionist movement. He created this letter probably in the Netherlands. Editor: A letter... offering a work for sale perhaps? It feels like someone is seeking support or acknowledgment. There’s something particularly poignant in seeing an artist lay bare not only their artistic vision but their financial needs. I can imagine, though, someone today framing it! Curator: Exactly! He mentions sending a photograph after depicting his "painting" - and the price is f2 -with 20% commision. He even offers a little humble enticement. A vital record of how art actually entered the marketplace and our collections. What kind of audience did Meijer assume? Was it a friendly, possibly family member, relationship? How common were artistic deals through letter exchange? And now, after so many years, we become accidental readers of it. The marketplace shaped the artistic journey then just as it does now. Editor: And the artistic journey itself is etched in every stroke, isn’t it? The almost nervous energy, the slight tremor in the line... there’s a sense of immediacy that a grand, finished painting might lack. Curator: I feel a real kinship with the maker here, that desire for one’s creative work to find its place, and the reality of what the work is really "worth". It seems like De Haan captures a vulnerable universal state in his Brief. Thanks so much for speaking to its meaning.