Brief aan Isaac Israels Possibly 1922

This letter to Isaac Israels was written by Jan Veth in 1922, and look at the way the handwriting seems to dance across the page, each stroke of ink a deliberate yet spontaneous gesture. It’s like Veth is sketching with words, using the nib of his pen to create texture and depth. See how the letters lean and curve, how the lines occasionally thicken or thin, giving the words a life of their own? The ink is deep, almost black, making the pale, aged paper glow. Look at the flourish in his signature, how it mirrors the freedom of his brushstrokes in his portraits. This letter shows us how even in writing, Veth approached his work with the eye of a painter, thinking about the rhythm and flow. It reminds me of the gestural abstraction of Cy Twombly, another artist who blurred the lines between writing and painting, and the way both artists use the surface as a playground for thought. Each mark is a step in the process of creation.