Brief aan Jan Veth 1878 - 1925

This is a letter to Jan Veth, written in 1892 in Amsterdam by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst. The handwritten letter offers us a glimpse into the social and intellectual circles of the Dutch art world at the end of the 19th century. Letters like this are a valuable resource to the art historian. They are primary documents that reflect the cultural and intellectual values of the time in which they were produced. The references to literature and portraits suggest the interests and concerns that Holst and Veth shared. Holst was a well-known socialist, so we might ask if those leanings are reflected in his art. The fact that this letter is preserved in the Rijksmuseum tells us something about the institutional frameworks that shape artistic production and reception. Museum archives, library collections, and digital databases all play a part in how we come to understand the art of the past.