Pen to paper

"Even in our age of emails, texts, and tweets, there is a growing fascination with the simple act of putting pen to paper. Associations such as the International Association of Master Penmen and The Society for Italic Handwriting keep the traditions of calligraphy and penmanship alive, script typefaces continue to be bestsellers, and hand-drawn display type and packaging of all sorts are having their own renaissance. The Art of Handwriting builds on this interest, revealing how the simple act of writing a letter can be an artistic act. This correspondence from the collections of the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art show that an artist might put pen to paper just as he or she would craft a line in a drawing. Brief essays from curators and art historians explore what can be learned from the handwriting of celebrated artists such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Isamu Noguchi, Willem de Kooning, Thomas Eakins, Sister Corita Kent, and many others. Each letter is accompanied by an archival image of the artist or an artwork that is described in relation to the handwriting. The Art of Handwriting provides a fresh way to think about artists and their creative work"--