Brief aan Françoise W.M. Bonger Possibly 1959

This letter, dated January 20, 1959, was composed by Charles Chetham. It's all typed out in a straightforward manner, like a sketch in words, laying out Chetham's mission. I can see him hunched over a desk in Amsterdam, figuring out what he's doing. He is writing to Françoise W.M. Bonger, and you can sense the curiosity in his hunt for Van Gogh's prints and drawings. It is like he is trying to find something out about his art. The letter reminds me of when I'm deep in my studio, trying to figure something out, and all of a sudden I see something from another painter, and the whole thing opens up. This letter feels like a moment of connection, reaching out to the past, trying to trace the lines of influence. Isn't it great how an artist's journey is so often about these connections, these conversations across time? A painting is never just itself; it's part of this bigger exchange, a give-and-take that keeps the whole thing alive.