Brief aan Adriaan van der Willigen Possibly 1819

Curator: We're looking at "Brief aan Adriaan van der Willigen" by Johannes (I) Hari, likely penned around 1819. It’s an ink drawing on paper, currently residing here at the Rijksmuseum. What strikes you first? Editor: It whispers of secrets, doesn’t it? The swirling ink, the cramped script... a raw, immediate communication frozen in time. There’s an intimacy that transcends language, like a ghost of a thought just beyond my grasp. Curator: Absolutely. Hari’s letter showcases the Romantic style in its emotional intensity and focus on personal experience. You see how the controlled strokes communicate profound feeling within its form? Editor: I'm immediately drawn to the structure of language itself. The rigid rows of text, the near-calligraphic presentation; it’s as if the ideas contained are straining against the limitations of written language. Does this artist typically work in prose? Or is he mostly working as a draftsman? Curator: He was primarily known as an artist, yes. His paintings explore similar themes of inner turmoil and idealized beauty. Perhaps here, the very act of writing becomes a form of drawing, or visual poetics if you will. He expresses great turmoil and his work, perhaps unsurprisingly, has often come across very vulnerable and emotional. Editor: Interesting... so the content dictates the artistic method, and therefore reflects its very function! I notice the top right is the clear destination for our attention: what clues are offered by the placement of date and greeting on the letter? It is all intentionally built within this artwork. Curator: It’s all connected to understanding context of time. Hari reflects on the state of artistic practice of the time, its portraiture focus, and how society drives art. What remains constant for him, in his writing at least, is his desire for pure artistic autonomy and honest emotion, which is probably true for many working artists even now! Editor: And isn’t that a constant theme, then and now? Very insightful—that simple connection enriches my view immensely.