Visitekaartje aan Philip Zilcken before 1903

This visiting card was made by Marinus van der Maarel for Philip Zilcken. I love how the elegant script sprawls across the card’s surface, a deliberate act of formal display. It's got this kind of creamy, off-white ground, like old paper that’s been holding secrets for ages. The ink, a delicate, faded black, gives it a ghostly quality, a whisper from the past. The cursive almost dances, each letter carefully rendered with a flourish. Notice how the loops of the 'v' and 'd' in 'van der Maarel' loop and curve. It’s as if the artist is not just writing a name, but performing a kind of dance across the page, an echo of a formal greeting. It reminds me of Ed Ruscha's text based works, in that they both elevate simple text to a form of art. What seems like a simple gesture carries so much weight, a gentle nod across time, full of understated elegance.