Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1897

This is a letter, written in Kernhem on the 14th of December 1897, by C.M. Böhtlingk to Philip Zilcken. The handwritten note, penned during a period of significant cultural shift, offers a glimpse into the late 19th-century art world. The letter makes reference to a painting of Helen Robbers and touches on the process of valuation, hinting at the economic structures underpinning artistic creation and exchange at the time. The author also references a number of social dynamics and the language they are writing in - a marker of social and regional background. As historians, we can delve into records of art sales, exhibition catalogues, and personal correspondence from that era to understand the institutional histories that shaped artistic taste and value. The meaning of this letter lies not only in its words but also in the broader social context in which it was created, reminding us that art is always contingent on its time.