Brief aan Philip Zilcken 1898 - 1907

This is a letter by Jan Toorop to Philip Zilcken, it was written using ink on paper. The first thing I notice is the handwriting, it has this nervous, energetic quality, especially those tight loops and sudden flicks. The ink looks almost like it’s dancing on the page, a bit like a Cy Twombly doodle but much more contained. I imagine Toorop’s hand moving quickly, hardly pausing, as he transferred his thoughts directly onto the paper. Look at how the letters huddle together in places, then stretch out in others, it's like a little map of the artist’s mind at that moment. You can almost feel the texture of the paper beneath the ink, see the way it absorbs and spreads. It reminds me of the letters Agnes Martin wrote to friends, equally intimate and revealing. Ultimately, this piece is like a little portal into another artist's world, a reminder that art is just one big conversation.