Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1905

This is a postcard sent by Jan Toorop, but we don't know when it was made. It seems like a simple thing, but when you look closer, you can see how even something like a postcard involves a whole bunch of choices about materials and process. I mean, think about the texture of the paper, and the color of the ink. The way the ink bleeds slightly into the paper and makes these fuzzy edges around the letters. I'm drawn to how the postal markings overlap the printed text, obscuring and disrupting it. It's almost like a collaboration between the artist and the postal system! This reminds me of Kurt Schwitters, who was working around the same time. He also saw the potential for art in everyday materials like stamps and scraps of paper. Art is such an ongoing conversation, don’t you think? It’s so exciting.