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Get out some paper and dust off your pen because the Smithsonian’s The Art of Handwriting online exhibit (via Like Fire) will make you itch to write a letter or at the least a short note.
The exhibit showcases forty-five letters from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art. The letters are written by artists the likes of Mary Cassat, Georgia O’Keefe, Willem de Kooning and Winslow Homer. I expected the handwriting to be gorgeous since these were artists, and some of them are. Dan Flavin has a gorgeous hand. Maxfield Parrish really knows how to add flourish. And Louis Lozowick has a tidy script that is pleasant to look at and easy to read.
But just because one is an artist doesn’t mean one’s handwriting is legible. George Catlin had quite the scrawl. Marcel Duchamp’s writing makes my hand cramp just looking at it. And Jackson Pollock gave me a headache from squinting and trying to decipher his words.
It all makes me feel so good about my own handwriting. You see, you can use these letters two ways. The ones with beautiful print or script you can say, well sure, these people are artists! And the ones will barely legible hands you can say, ha! I write better than that famous artist! See how you can fit yourself into a happy, self-satisfied in between?
Check it out, enjoy, and write a letter to someone. Both you and the recipient will be glad for it.
I know someone who is owed a handwritten letter. I better get on that….
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Helen, well now that you mention it… π
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Me too. Mea culpa.
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No hurries and no pressure! π
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Oh this is fun! I love the one with the bat!
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Iliana, aren’t they great? I like the one with the bat too.
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I am passionate about handwriting: teaching it, analyzing it, and writing it myself (preferably with fountain pens). Thanks for sharing this post, the site of which I’m off to peruse.
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Bellezza, oh such a nice thing to hear! Most school have stopped teaching anything beyond printing. There are a few states that still require it, but what a shame for so many to lose such a valuable skill. I love fountain pens too. And ink. I have a growing collection of bottled inks. Hope you enjoyed the exhibit!
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How cool–I wonder if the next Smithsonian magazine will have an article on this (or maybe the last one…not sure I got to look at it properly so am going now to check it out). You know how my own handwriting tends to get worse the more I write. I need to practice more–I’m sure you’ll be finding a card or letter in your mailbox soon, too! Now I am off to check this online exhibit out–thanks for the heads up! π
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Oh, yes, totally want to learn how to write as pretty as Maxfield Parrish–love those flourishes!
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Danielle, I haven’t finished looking through the last issue of the Smithsonian I am so behind on magazines. I hope they do have a long article about it. That would be fun. I did indeed get a card in the mail from you yesterday, thanks! You always brighten up my mailbox π Aren’t Parrish’s flourishes fancy? It’s easy to connect them with his art style.
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I made a new year’s resolution about 3 years ago that I was going handwrite proper thank you notes like we used to, instead of sending a quick email. I’ve done it too – though not on every occasion! When I do, people love it … even if my actual handwriting isn’t as nice as it once was. I like doing it — and I get to use up my store of pretty stationery.
I heard a few years ago that modern scholars are having increasing problems researching manuscript collections because they are not used to handwriting – they don’t handwrite much themselves and, more, they have little experience in reading other people’s handwriting. We oldies remember only too well the challenges of deciphering boss’s handwriting, or cards from elderly relatives, and, of course doctors’ scripts. I’m sure pharmacists are very happy that doctors now tend to produce scripts out of their computers! Horses for courses as they say!
Anyhow, now I’ll go check the exhibit.
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whisperinggums, what a wonderful resolution! And it’s great that you have managed to stick to it too. I have a nice stash of pretty stationery too and am always on the lookout for more. Sadly, it is becoming harder and harder to find.
I have heard that about modern scholars too. I have noticed myself that I find it more difficult to decipher handwriting I am not familiar with. Back in college in the late 80s I used to work as a writing tutor and I prided myself on being able to decipher almost every scrawl I saw but computers and email have left me out of practice. I bet pharmacists are really happy most prescriptions are printed from a computer now. I’ve heard stories about scary mistakes because of illegibility. Hope you enjoyed the exhibit!
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That’s interesting Stefanie … We can still find quite a lot of nice stationery here …. Or at least it seems so because people keep giving it to me! I think mostly from museum and gallery gift shops. Finding nice stationery in stores does seem harder I agree. Every one who goes to England brings me back Jane Austen stationery!
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whisperinggums, sounds like I need to start haunting museum and gallery gift shop and I need to acquire more friends who go on trips to England!
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Sounds like! Japan is a good place too for gorgeous stationery! See, lots of opportunities …
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I dislike having to write anything by hand, which makes me a minority in the book-loving community, I know. My handwriting went to pot during graduate school and I can type about a hundred words a minute without mistakes.
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Jeanne, you are a fast typist! I like handwriting because it is slow and makes me slow down. I find it is a good way for me to think. But everyone is different, keeps things interesting that way π
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How interesting you should write about letters. I’ve been feeling a real sense of loss lately. My personal “Atticus Finch” – my wonderful friend – passed away peacefully at home at the age of 89 (well, just 2 months shy) in the same house in which he was born. Yesterday I opened a seldom opened drawer and found a letter he had written to my daughter in 2001. I always loved his letters, to me and to her. I loved his handwriting. The way he formed his “T”s. I held that letter and thought about his hands passing over the page as he formed the words – words and sentences filled with wit and news and promises to keep in touch. Long live the handwritten letter – and long live Talbird Reeve Sams.
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Oh Grad, I am so sorry for your loss. Your friend sounds like a wonderful person. That he liked to write letters and that you have them still is a treasure.
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I see what you mean about Catlin. We have an exhibition of his paintings in our city art gallery at the moment. They are definitely better:)
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Alex, what a coincidence that there is a Catlin exhibit near you. Glad to hear his paintings are better than his handwriting!
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The title of your post could well be The Lost Art of Handwriting. I confess I don’t handwrite that much now, not only for reasons of expediency, but oh, my penmanship is quite poor. But I do still write cards, weddings, condolences, thank-you’s… all the social requirement. I love to read other’s handwritten works too, esp. appreciate beautiful calligraphy. What an interesting post, Stefanie, and thanks for the link to the video.
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Arti, sadly it could. Penmanship is a matter of practice. The more you write the better you get at it. And, I wish I could have found the quote, someone once said that there is always at least one person in the world who will be willing to decipher your handwriting. So take heart! π
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Read this very morning:
‘The typewriter separated me from a deeper intimacy with poetry, and my hand brought me closer to that intimacy again’
Pablo Neruda
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Cath, oh, what a fantastic quote!
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