Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1895

Editor: We’re looking at Floris Verster’s "Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken," possibly from 1895, held at the Rijksmuseum. It seems simple, almost like a fleeting thought jotted down—what am I to make of it? What do *you* see here? Curator: You know, it's tempting to see this as *just* a postcard, but I like to imagine the conversations it sparked, the world it briefly inhabited between Verster and Zilcken. It is so modest and unpretentious; what kind of life could such a message contain? What do you suppose Verster hoped Zilcken would find in his work? Editor: I suppose artistic solidarity? Was Zilcken an artist too? Curator: Indeed. They were both part of the art world in The Hague, but Zilcken played various roles – artist, critic, etcher, anything you could do with art, that was Zilcken. This little message might have been an invitation, perhaps regarding some exhibition. See, even everyday missives like this whisper untold stories. Have *you* sent many postcards? What sort of emotion, for instance, went into the selection of that specific stamp in the corner? Editor: Well, the stamp dates it, I guess, but no I haven't, now that you mention it. Everything feels so immediate these days. Maybe I should start again – imagine curating the experience on a small card… Curator: It makes you reconsider what art could be. An intimate note, the art of correspondence and gentle gesture, now those can be just as significant as a painting. What are the contemporary possibilities in such a historical exchange? It is this line of reasoning, always that conversation, that gets me up in the morning. Editor: Absolutely, I never really considered a postcard could *be* the artwork.