Brief aan Willem Bogtman Possibly 1924 - 1929

This is a letter made with ink on paper, by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst. The dominant gestural marks are loops and forward slants, and the color palette is minimal—just the contrast between the dark ink and the pale paper. I can imagine Holst hunched over his desk, the nib of his pen scratching across the page, each word forming slowly, deliberately. I sympathize with Holst. I wonder what he was thinking as he wrote this letter, what he wanted to communicate to Willem Bogtman. The texture of the paper, the flow of the ink—these material aspects shape our experience of the letter, contributing to its emotional resonance. Look at the way he forms his "s"s, almost like waves. It communicates a feeling of fluidity, of thoughts flowing onto the page. Holst was part of a vibrant artistic community, and his work was influenced by his contemporaries. Artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring one another's creativity. This letter is a form of embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.