Briefkaart aan jonkheer Hendrik Teding van Berkhout (1879-1969) before 1932

This postcard was sent by Th. Bosch, the ink laid down with a clear joy in the shapes of the letters. Look at how each word is drawn with a slightly different weight of line, some darker and bolder than others. The materiality of the writing, its texture and tone, feels very deliberate. You can imagine the artist choosing the right pen, testing the ink. The process is far from concealed, the shapes are solid, with a lot of contrast between the ink and the creamy paper. The writing swoops and swells, and then at the bottom, look at the way the signature almost becomes an abstract form. This small curve of ink seems to mimic and comment on the shapes of the letters, as if to say: this is all drawing. There’s a kind of formal play that reminds me of Cy Twombly’s painterly scribbles. Even here, in a humble postcard, art sneaks in, disrupting our need for a clear message.