Brief aan Jan Veth Possibly 1915

This is a letter, Brief aan Jan Veth, by Chap van Deventer. The date is not known. It’s writing, of course, and when I look at it I think about how the simplest tools, like a pen and ink, can create such a direct connection to the artist. The paper has lines, like it came from a notebook, but the writing goes over the lines sometimes, like the artist couldn’t be contained. It’s a personal thing, writing, and you get a sense of the artist’s hand, the pressure, and rhythm. The letters have a real physicality. It reminds me of Cy Twombly, in a way, like a drawing where the words are almost abstract shapes. I think about Jasper Johns a lot when I see script. It is all about gesture, and writing becomes a way of making marks and building up a surface, like the language itself.