Prentbriefkaart aan Marisa Quanjer before 1937

Editor: Here we have a postcard, *Prentbriefkaart aan Marisa Quanjer*, created before 1937. It's ink on paper by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst and it's held at the Rijksmuseum. The writing is what strikes me first – it completely dominates the composition. What do you see when you look at this? Curator: I see more than just the script itself. It's fascinating how something as mundane as a postcard can offer insights into social dynamics of the era. Consider the date - just before the Second World War. It makes me wonder about Marisa Quanjer. Who was she, and what was her relationship to Roland Holst? The casual nature of a postcard hints at an intimacy, yet the coded language of the time may obscure details. Editor: Coded language? What do you mean? Curator: Well, deciphering personal codes is nearly impossible today, but even everyday correspondence reflects prevailing societal structures. We could start to ask questions around class, access to education, and even the postal service itself. A simple postcard isn't so simple, right? Editor: Right! It really reframes how I was seeing the image. Instead of just appreciating it aesthetically, I’m now wondering about its social and historical contexts. Curator: Precisely. And the beautiful thing is, we can extrapolate these contexts outward into larger understandings about art and society as a whole. Editor: It gives this small artwork a much larger resonance. I am going to keep those questions in mind with artworks going forward. Thanks.