Conceptbrief en afschrift van een brief aan Jac van Looij Possibly 1907

This handwritten letter was created in Amsterdam by August Allebé in 1907. Look at the overall effect of these dense calligraphic marks – it reminds me of Cy Twombly’s scrawls or even some of the wilder pages from a Philip Guston sketchbook. Imagine Allebé, pen in hand, carefully crafting each word, each line building upon the last. What was going through his head as he penned this missive? Was he thinking about other artists? About communicating clearly? Notice how the ink varies in thickness, creating a rhythmic texture across the page. The way the lines intersect and overlap forms a complex visual field, not unlike the layered brushstrokes in a painting. The gestures here are about thought, memory, and connection. I like to think of this letter as a form of embodied expression, carrying echoes of past conversations and future possibilities. It reminds us that artists are always in dialogue, inspiring one another across time and space.