Pen to Paper: Artists’ Handwritten Letters

Just as putting pen to paper to create a line in a drawing is an artistic act, so is writing a letter.

Pen to Paper, a selection from the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art, reveals the beauty and intimacy of the craft of letter writing. From casually jotted notes to elaborately decorated epistles, Pen to Paper explores the handwriting of celebrated artists such as Berenice Abbott, Alexander Calder, Mary Cassatt, Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas Eakins, Howard Finster, Harriet Hosmer, Jacob Lawrence, Robert Motherwell, Claes Oldenburg, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, John Singer Sargent, James McNeil Whistler, and many others.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.