Brief aan Marisa Quanjer Possibly 1937

This letter to Marisa Quanjer was written in 1937 by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst; I love the immediacy of letters. It’s so different from a painting, but it’s still about process, about capturing a moment in time. You can see the way the ink bleeds slightly into the paper, how the nib of the pen catches and releases, creating a rhythm of thicks and thins. It’s like watching someone think, the words flowing out in a continuous stream. Look at the way he forms his letters, each one distinct yet connected. There’s a certain elegance to it, a fluidity that reminds me of calligraphy. Holst was a multi-talented artist. Letters like this show the thinking behind the artwork. Seeing the writing of other artists is a kind of inspiration, a reminder that art is an ongoing conversation. There is no definitive meaning, only endless possibilities.