Brief aan Philip Zilcken 1873 - 1930

Jules Destrée’s letter to Philip Zilcken is rendered in dark ink on a pale ground. Imagine Destrée sitting at his desk, pen in hand, carefully forming each letter, each word a deliberate stroke. It is a delicate dance between intention and chance. Look at how the ink pools in certain spots, creating tiny shadows that give the words depth and weight. I wonder, what was he thinking as he wrote? Was he aware of the pressure he exerted, the way the ink bled into the paper, the texture it created? Notice the loops and swirls of his signature at the bottom, an almost calligraphic gesture, confident and fluid, so unlike my own signature scrawled hastily on legal documents. We are all connected, influencing one another, even across time and distance. Painting, like writing, is a conversation, a way of reaching out, of leaving a trace of ourselves in the world.