Brief aan Andries Bonger Possibly 1927

Maurice Fromkes wrote this letter to Andries Bonger, likely with ink on paper, and what strikes me first is the rhythm of the handwriting. The script swoops and dives with a kind of breathless energy, a bit like Cy Twombly's mark-making, if you can imagine it tamed into the discipline of language. The ink varies in darkness, which reveals the changing pressure and speed of the pen, making you feel the hand moving across the page. Look at the looping 'L' in 'Healing,' how it stretches up then folds back. There's a sense of hopefulness there, but also restraint, as if the writer is trying to contain a deeper, more turbulent emotion. The slight slant of the writing adds a personal touch, like the writer is leaning into the conversation. It reminds me that art, in all its forms, is about connection, about reaching out and sharing a bit of ourselves, even in the most fleeting of moments. It’s a trace of life, there on the page.