Brief aan Max Wilhelm Carl Weber en Anne Antoinette Weber-Van Bosse Possibly 1915

This letter was written by August Allebé in 1916 and it feels so intimate. I think of mark-making as a kind of performance, and here, the choreography of Allebé’s handwriting really tells a story. Look at the way the letters tilt and lean, like they’re in a hurry to get across the page. It's so easy to get lost in the act of reading, but I'm more interested in how the words are formed through the movements of the writer's hand. I can almost feel the scratch of the pen on the paper. The ink looks thick and deliberate, but also nervous, like the mind is trying to catch up with the hand. You can tell that he’s thinking and feeling at the same time, and that’s what makes it so raw, so human. It’s not just a letter, it’s a little piece of Allebé himself. I love that.