Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1902 - 1922

Curator: This piece is titled "Brief aan Philip Zilcken," possibly created between 1902 and 1922 by Alice Holbach. It seems to be a drawing using ink, perhaps part of a personal sketchbook, incorporating Art Nouveau elements. What’s your initial take? Editor: It looks intensely personal. The handwritten script feels delicate yet urgent. Like a fragment of a private world, immediately invoking intimacy and vulnerability. And also of someone very busy and cultured. Curator: Indeed, there's a certain unmediated quality. It beautifully illustrates how materials and method converge. The Art Nouveau influence is really pronounced through the ornate hand-lettering and what seems to be calligraphic style. There's almost a textile-like quality in its intricate details. Editor: For me the physical labour involved jumps out immediately. Every stroke of that pen laid bare, all of those repeated actions, the density and control in the letter forms. These small drawings are of the letterform themselves – the art lives in the detail and control – so in effect the letters become the art. I suspect they become things the author sees wherever they go and with every use. The materials—the pen, ink, the specific type of paper—play a pivotal role. Holbach's access to them, the economic context of producing such an artwork, it's all fascinating. The act of putting pen to paper in that era carries a lot of weight. Curator: And the content itself—a letter— speaks volumes, even though we only see snippets. Imagine the countless untold stories, that we may never recover – now this piece makes them linger with their own power. The hand-lettering gives the message a kind of decorative, visual presence that almost transcends its literal meaning. This reminds me to use pen and paper every day in new creative ways! Editor: It really brings home that everything is labor. So here it is laid bare, nothing hidden. It seems at once like an artifact and something of real value in that world. This isn’t some mass produced object; there is real intentionality on every surface. Curator: Yes, and in closing I have to add the raw aesthetic power of this kind of intentional making has truly captivated me – thanks for unveiling these ideas and for inspiring us to view and interpret them in original new ways. Editor: Thanks. I can certainly say this analysis today reminded me how art objects embody social relationships that bring us together and inform what we believe today.