Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1907

Vittorio Pica made this letter to Philip Zilcken at some point, using ink on paper. Think about that gesture, you know, the hand moving across the page, thinking, pausing. Look at those scribbled marks; they could almost be doodles, wandering lines finding their way. I bet Pica, an art critic, was thinking about the play between seeing and saying, or even feeling. You know how sometimes you're just trying to find the right words? He repeats the word "peintre" almost as though he’s testing the sound, or is it a kind of affirmation? These strokes are like thoughts in motion—a little messy, a little hesitant. What was Pica thinking when he wrote this? What could he have been hoping for? It reminds me that art making is never a solitary activity, but a form of communication, full of intention, reaching out to connect.