Brief aan Henriëtte Johanna Petronella van Hilten Possibly 1927

Curator: Here we have “Brief aan Henriëtte Johanna Petronella van Hilten,” which translates to "Letter to Henriëtte Johanna Petronella van Hilten.” Leo Gestel possibly created this ink drawing on paper around 1927. It's currently held in the Rijksmuseum collection. Editor: My first thought is that the script is like a seismograph of feeling—tight tremors followed by calmer swells. There’s such intimacy conveyed through these handwritten lines. It makes me wonder about the relationship between the writer and the addressee, Jet. Curator: Handwriting, with its quirks and unique pressure points, can definitely be seen as a type of portraiture itself, indexing personal identity. And letter-writing especially offers that window. Gestel created something with enduring power that transcends its initial, functional purpose. Editor: Absolutely. It's interesting how, even without understanding the language—which appears to be Dutch—one can feel the warmth, or perhaps even longing, conveyed in the message. Look at how certain words are stressed with bolder strokes, which words seem more urgent than others. Curator: And, while ostensibly a private communication, the letter's elevation into the art world reframes our relationship to it as viewers, inviting speculation. Is the artistry in the act of writing, in the carefully chosen words, or in the visual composition of the script across the page? Editor: Or is it that, through making it public, it makes the implicit structures visible between communication and history. This text itself, in the era of rapidly changing social mores and artistic movements, must have been rooted in so many intimate moments, a trace fossil of emotion now preserved on paper for us. I love how a piece like this makes us question the boundary between the public and the private. Curator: It makes you reconsider all types of communication and how even casual text, something dashed off hastily, will reveal deeper truths to someone at some point in history. Editor: Definitely. Even without a clear sense of its historical circumstances or intimate purpose, this little glimpse offers an invitation for endless consideration.