Brief aan Philip Zilcken 1900 - 1903

This letter to Philip Zilcken was written in March 1900 by Jan Hillebrand Wijsmuller using ink on paper. The handwriting gives a sense of Wijsmuller’s own hand as he’s thinking, a kind of directness that speaks to the immediacy of artmaking as a process. The ink is dark, almost black, against the pale cream of the paper, so the contrast makes the marks stand out. It’s so easy to follow the path of the ink, see where he paused, where the nib of the pen might have spluttered a little. Look at the flourishes and the way the lines loop and connect - there’s a rhythm to it, almost like a dance. I love how the words are compressed and expand in different areas. The overall effect reminds me a little of Cy Twombly, who also had a passion for handwriting and mark-making. Both artists seem to embrace a kind of looseness, inviting us to find our own meaning in the shapes and forms they create. It’s a reminder that art isn’t about perfection, but about embracing the beauty of imperfection.