Brief aan Jan Veth Possibly 1920 - 1925

This letter, penned by someone at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam, back in February 1920, is like a little painting in itself. Look at the looping, rhythmic dance of the ink across the page – it's all about flow and pressure, darks and lights. I can imagine the writer, maybe the Director, pausing between thoughts, the pen hovering, then diving back in. The words are so carefully formed, yet there’s a definite energy, like the artist is trying to capture a fleeting idea. The letter references Dürer, and I wonder if that artist was in their mind as they were writing. It is the kind of thing that artists do, they are always having an internal conversation with artists from the past. Each word carefully chosen and placed. For me, it's all about the gesture, it feels like you can really see their character in the marks they make.