Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1907

This is "Brief aan Philip Zilcken", a postcard which Vittorio Pica sent at some point. It's really beautiful how the markings here aren't just language, but, through their placement and texture, become almost abstract forms. I love the stamp in the upper right corner, so carefully placed, a burst of faded red against the cream of the card. The cancellation mark to the left of the stamp is cool, like a portal to another time. All the writing, done in a delicate, spidery hand, zig zags across the card, creating this feeling of urgent communication, the ink bleeding slightly into the paper, giving it a soft, almost blurry quality. It makes me think about how we communicate today versus then. Back then, a postcard like this was a precious thing, a physical object carrying thoughts and feelings across distances. Now, it’s all so instant, so fleeting. I'm reminded of the work of Cy Twombly, whose scribbled lines and fragmented texts evoke a similar sense of poetic communication. It’s a reminder that art, like a well-written letter, is always an ongoing conversation across time and space.