Brief aan Jan Veth Possibly 1919

This is a letter, written in 1949 by the Ministerie van Onderwijs, Kunsten en Wetenschappen, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Arts, and Sciences. Look at the handwriting; it’s so personal, the dark ink scratching across the page, the cursive loops and lines full of character. The texture of the paper, slightly yellowed with age, adds another layer. You can almost feel the writer's hand moving across the page, composing thoughts, making decisions. It’s like watching a painter build up layers of color and form, each stroke adding depth and complexity. Notice how some words are more emphatic, darker, as if the writer pressed harder at those points. It reminds me of how de Kooning would attack a canvas, digging in with the brush, leaving a record of the struggle. This letter, with its intimate and imperfect script, echoes the human touch so present in paintings by Cy Twombly. It embraces the beauty of imperfection and the endless conversation between artists across time.