Brief aan Philip Zilcken en Henriette Wilhelmina van Baak Possibly 1927

This is a letter, from 1977, by Willem de Zwart, in ink on paper. What I see here are thin, dark, looping lines of ink pressed onto the pale surface of the paper, each stroke an extension of the artist’s hand. I imagine De Zwart holding his pen, carefully forming each word, each letter, each connecting stroke. I think of the artist pausing, perhaps searching for the right turn of phrase, or maybe just collecting his thoughts, the pen momentarily hovering over the page. The writing has a rhythm, almost like a dance – a kind of controlled improvisation with each stroke responding to the previous one, creating a fluid, interconnected composition. There is a sense of intimacy in the act of writing. It makes me wonder about the relationship between De Zwart and the recipients of this letter, Philip Zilcken and Henriette Wilhelmina van Baak. It seems like artists are always in conversation with each other, aren't they? They're just exchanging ideas, inspiring each other, across time and space. This is art as a form of embodied expression, open to multiple interpretations.