Brief aan jonkheer Hendrik Teding van Berkhout (1879-1969) Possibly 1913 - 1919

This letter was written by Frans Everbag to jonkheer Hendrik Teding van Berkhout, in 1913, with ink on paper. The paper is mostly blank, with the handwriting clustered toward the top. You can see where the writer pressed hard, how he formed the letters, their particular quirks and idiosyncratic shapes. The strokes of the pen vary in thickness, some lines darker where the ink pooled, creating a texture as much visual as informational. Each curve and flourish feels deliberate, a physical dance across the page. Even though I can't read the language, I can read something in the attention given to each mark. It's like when Agnes Martin hand-drew the lines of her grids, each one wobbly and subtly unique. There's a similar sense here of the human hand leaving its trace, making the process visible. Letters, like brushstrokes, become a record of the artist's presence.