Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1904 - 1914

This is a letter from Pierre Pinet to Philip Zilcken, penned with ink on paper, sometime around the turn of the 20th century. Look at the way the words sprawl across the page, the heavy downstrokes contrasting with light, airy ascenders. It’s writing as drawing, thinking as doing. The ink bleeds slightly into the fibers of the page, a subtle halo around each character. Note the flourishes and cross-outs, the revisions and corrections that give it a rich, layered texture. It’s as if we’re witnessing the very process of thought unfolding before our eyes, like a window into the writer’s mind. The looping descenders of the “p” and “g” in the signature on the right page – there’s a real rhythm here, a physical engagement with the act of writing. You could compare this to Cy Twombly, whose scribbled paintings also captured the energy of pure, unfiltered expression. Ultimately, a piece like this reminds us that art is not just about the finished product, but about the messy, imperfect, and deeply human process of creation.