Brief aan August Allebé Possibly 1913

This letter was written by Jonkheer Victor Eugène Louis de Stuers to August Allebé, but the date is unknown. Look at the way the ink bleeds into the paper, like watercolor almost, and the shapes that emerge. I wonder what it was like for de Stuers to sit down and compose this letter. Was it rushed? Was it a long time coming? Maybe he was in a flurry of thought, the words tumbling out as he grasped his pen. The letters have a real rhythm to them—the downstrokes thick and confident, then tapering off into delicate hairlines. It reminds me of Cy Twombly, his looping scrawls, each line carrying its own emotional weight. I like how the formal constraints of handwriting are in constant tension with the desire for personal expression. It makes me want to grab a pen and join this ongoing conversation.