Brief aan Jan Veth Possibly 1911

This letter to Jan Veth, from the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam, dated October 11, 1911, is like a drawing in its own right, isn’t it? I mean, look at the way the ink sits on the page, the dance of the cursive script creating a visual rhythm. You can almost feel the hand moving across the paper, each word a deliberate gesture, a little like each brushstroke. The pressure varies, thick strokes giving way to delicate lines, creating a tonal range and texture with just ink and paper. It’s kind of like a minimalist painting, where less is more, and the essence of the message and the medium become intertwined. The letter’s content is as engaging as its form, hinting at a world of artistic endeavor and personal connection. It makes me think of Cy Twombly, not in direct style, but in the shared sense of gestural immediacy and the merging of writing and art. Artmaking is just an ongoing conversation. Nothing is fixed, and that’s the beauty of it.