Brief aan Philip Zilcken 1881 - 1925

This is a letter by Adolphe van Bever, written with ink on paper, with no known date. We can understand this letter as participating in a late-19th or early-20th century social world of artistic production. Van Bever writes with an air of authority to a Monsieur Zilcken, concerning a distribution of "Telleas et Melisande" and its accessories. The handwriting is a visual code that evokes an era of aristocratic and bourgeois exchange of goods and services. Van Bever also notes details of ‘mise en scene’ and the importance of lighting. By his signature, we can see that Van Bever was a stage director. The cultural references of his letter indicate an institutional network of production around theater, performance, and design. Research into theater programs, playbills, and archival letters might reveal more about the politics of art and performance in Van Bever’s time. We might ask: who was this Monsieur Zilcken, and what was their relationship?