Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1906

This letter was composed in 1905 by Johan Dionysius Looyen, and I can imagine him carefully inking his words onto the page. The artist's looping script feels very free and open to chance. Some of the strokes are quite deliberate, while others trail off as if in thought. I wonder what Looyen was thinking as he wrote these words. He certainly wasn't trying to be beautiful, but it's like the energy of his mind has been captured. The formality of the letter is interesting, especially compared to the gestural qualities of the handwriting. It makes me think about how we communicate through our hands. Like a painter, a writer has their own unique touch. It's like the artist is saying: here’s the language, here’s my mark.