Briefkaart aan Jan Veth Possibly 1901 - 1918

This postcard to Jan Veth by Karel Johan Lodewijk Alberdingk Thijm is a little like a drawing, a form of low-key mark making using ink, stamps and postal markings. You can see the history of this object; the way the postal markings overlap the type and handwriting reveals a story, a process of sorts. I love the contrast between the formal typography of the word ‘Briefkaart’ and the more free-flowing, personal script of the address. The smudges and faded ink add to the feeling of age and history. Each stamp and marking is a deliberate gesture, a little like applying paint to a canvas. It is a surface which combines intention with accident, and an object in which writing becomes drawing. It puts me in mind of Kurt Schwitters and his collages made from found ephemera, everyday scraps that acquire a new beauty and significance through their arrangement and combination. Like Schwitters, Thijm shows us that art can be found in the most unexpected places.