Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken before 1914

This "Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken" was probably made with ink and paper some time around 1914. The stamps and handwriting crisscross each other, a few bold, confident strokes over a pale ground. I'm thinking about Melchers sending this postcard… Did he pause before writing, maybe biting the pen, deciding what to say? Each stroke of the pen is like a little performance, a dance between intention and chance. There’s something really intimate and human about handwriting, isn’t there? It’s like a direct line to the artist’s thoughts. I love how the ink pools and thins, creating this sense of depth and movement. You can almost feel the pressure of the pen on the paper. There is something about Melchers' work that reminds me of other painters who are playful with text, like Cy Twombly, or even some of the Dadaists. They’re all part of this ongoing conversation, remixing and reinventing ideas. And that's how we make art – with uncertainty and constant questioning.