Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1907 - 1911

This letter to Philip Zilcken, by A. Smit Kleine-Fastré, is made up of these sepia toned calligraphic marks that dance across the page. There’s a real rhythm to them. You can feel how the words move from the pen, with a light and dark flow as the pressure changes. I love seeing how the artist used a tool to make this message, the energy of the hand is right there on the surface. You can see the texture of the paper and the ink as they meet, the way the ink bleeds slightly into the fibers gives the piece a warmth. The words carry this beautiful weight, but there’s also a fragility to them. Each stroke, each word, is a little moment of decision-making, a micro-performance. This reminds me of Cy Twombly's scrawled paintings, where writing becomes drawing. It’s art as a process of thinking and feeling, where clarity isn’t the only goal, but rather a kind of open ended conversation, an exchange. Art as life.