Visitekaartje aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1902 - 1908

Octave Maus created this "Visitekaartje aan Philip Zilcken" sometime around 1902, and the medium appears to be ink on card. What I love about handwriting is that it’s so intimate. It’s like a little dance of the hand, a direct trace of thought made visible. Look closely at the strokes here. The line varies in thickness, sometimes flowing and sometimes catching, as if the pen is resisting the paper. It’s this kind of resistance that gives the writing its particular character. The words themselves – something about friendship, a date, a place – they're almost secondary to the pure, physical act of writing. See how the signature in the middle becomes a kind of abstract gesture? You could compare this to the drawings of Cy Twombly, who turned handwriting into huge, gestural marks. Both artists remind us that art isn't just about conveying a message, it's about the pleasure of process, about seeing and feeling the world in a new way. It is a form which embraces ambiguity.