Brief aan Ina van Eibergen Santhagens-Waller c. 1878 - 1938

This letter, penned by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst around 1920, feels like a quiet conversation, doesn't it? The handwriting, dense and looping, creates a visual texture akin to a field of subtle marks. I wonder about Holst's state of mind as he wrote—the urgency or calm he felt in communicating with Ina van Eibergen Santhagens-Waller. Was it a cold day? Did he pause to think? Maybe he was chain smoking while writing. You know, sometimes I feel like a letter is a painting, and the words are the strokes. Each phrase builds up the layers, revealing a state of mind. It reminds me of other artist correspondences, like Van Gogh's letters to Theo, where we see art and life so intimately intertwined. Artists are always talking to each other, across time and space, in an ongoing exchange of ideas and feelings. Letters like these are like sketches, quick and intimate, revealing the artist's hand and heart.