Brief aan Philip Zilcken 1896 - 1898

Curator: Let’s take a look at this… it's a letter from Auguste Rodin, titled "Brief aan Philip Zilcken," dating from around 1896 to 1898. The letter combines drawing and print work, with ink on paper, and it's currently housed in the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It's more ephemeral than I'd expect from Rodin. I immediately get a sense of fragility, not just from the apparent age of the paper but from the overall design. Curator: Absolutely, the choice of paper itself tells a story. Its imperfections, the slight discoloration – it all speaks to the materiality and its history, carrying its own weight. Look at how the ink interacts with the texture. Editor: Indeed. One recognizes the status and intention of a formal letter in its typography but sees, too, a sense of production that's quite far from sculpture or, say, metal-work printmaking. Letters and official documents, such as this, represent not only a way of thinking and feeling about history, here commemorating Paul Verlaine's life, but about what is socially permissible. This is how an art star manages the image economy of that historical moment. Curator: He signed it as vice-president... to what committee? And yes, Verlaine, it’s amazing to me that Rodin was not just a creator but a promoter, an advocate of artistic expression. His personal touch here transforms this letter from simple communication to something with... well, artistic sensibility, if you ask me. It also suggests a collaborative art scene which makes one think about the consumption of artworks in social contexts of exchange. Editor: The letterhead certainly provides the social context... Comité du Monument à Paul Verlaine. Curator: Ultimately, what speaks to me most about this piece is its temporality, knowing that ink fades, that paper degrades—that even memory, like art, transforms and adapts over time. What is left, really, other than interpretation? Editor: And a solid institutional and social base. Rodin certainly had that covered.