Brief aan Mien Cambier van Nooten Possibly 1939

Curator: Here we have Dick Ket's "Brief aan Mien Cambier van Nooten," likely from 1939. It’s an ink and pen drawing on paper. Editor: It's a handwritten letter with this intriguing sketch at the bottom. I am immediately struck by how intimate and personal this feels, and at the same time, how cryptic. How do you approach something like this? Curator: Well, understanding Ket’s context is key. He was grappling with severe physical limitations his whole life and also creating artwork in a really complicated historical moment. How might those personal struggles, combined with rising socio-political tensions, filter into his artistic expression? Editor: I see what you mean. The letter isn't just a casual note; it's a glimpse into the artist’s mind during a troubled period. So, you're suggesting the references within might have coded meanings or reflect the anxieties of the time? Curator: Precisely! Look at the fragmented thoughts, the allusions to music, the casual remarks amidst deeper confessions…it creates a sense of instability and vulnerability. What’s your take on his references to “criticism” and the plea to “be thirty”? How can these inform your interpretation of this personal letter? Editor: Maybe it’s a push against expectations, both artistic and personal? Like he's yearning for some idealized moment, beyond criticism, even though the world around him seems to be in turmoil. Curator: Exactly! Ket's letter embodies a push-and-pull, between private struggles and broader social anxieties. What did you learn by analysing it with social and historical perspective? Editor: I've learned that sometimes the most personal art is deeply entwined with the broader world. Curator: Indeed! Now we have a fuller appreciation for the letter as more than a private correspondence but a valuable lens through which we might reflect on life in Europe during the period just before the start of the Second World War.