Brief aan Pieter Haverkorn van Rijsewijk Possibly 1912

This letter was written by Simon Maris in Amsterdam in 1912. Look at the pressure of the pen on the page, see how the ink pools in places, and how the writing speeds up and slows down. It’s so much like painting, this act of applying a medium to a surface and letting it flow, like a dance. The lines vary in thickness; some are delicate and thin, others bold and emphatic. It's amazing how much emotion can be conveyed through such simple means, it's all about rhythm and emphasis, like a musical score. Notice especially the flourish of his signature, that final looping gesture is like a painter adding the final touch to a canvas. This reminds me of Cy Twombly, the way he embraced spontaneity and chance in his work. For both artists, writing and art become forms of mark-making, acts of expression, alive with energy and feeling.