Brief aan Philip Zilcken en Henriette Wilhelmina van Baak before 1906

This is a letter to Philip Zilcken and Henriette Wilhelmina van Baak, written in May of 1906 by Suzanne Desprès, probably with a dip pen and ink. The evenness of the blue ink suggests a consistency in the process. You know, it’s not a frantic, rushed script, more like a slow, deliberate dance across the page. And look at the way she forms each letter, each word. There’s a real care to the materiality of the writing. The ink is almost translucent on the paper, isn’t it? It’s not about hiding the process, but rather revealing it. The curve of the ‘S’ in Suzanne, for example, it's almost like a signature in itself. It reminds me of Cy Twombly, his scribbled lines and the way he made marks with such intention. It’s about embracing the handmade, the imperfect. We get so caught up in trying to make things perfect, but there’s beauty in the flaws, in the quirks. Art is an ongoing conversation, a messy, beautiful, and imperfect exchange of ideas.