Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1901 - 1909

This letter to Philip Zilcken, made with ink on paper in 1901 by Jacobus Hendrikus Speenhoff, is not a painting, but the marks on the paper still capture a moment of thought and action, just like a painting. The controlled cursive is almost performative, a dance of the hand across the page. The ink is dark, but not dense, allowing the paper to breathe through. Look closely at the loops and swirls of the handwriting. See how they become almost abstract shapes, like a drawing. There’s a rhythm here, a kind of visual music. The letter itself, a request for consideration of a contribution, becomes a delicate composition. This reminds me a little of Cy Twombly’s mark-making, even though Twombly is more gestural and abstract. But both artists share a love for the beauty of the line, the energy of the hand. It’s a reminder that art is everywhere, in the most unexpected places, and that everything, even a simple letter, can be a work of art.