Letter
4 Pages
Transcription: Tor Martin Leknes
Translation: Francesca Nichols
Transcription
Sandal 2den Nov, 1918
Kjære Hr. Meyer!
Tusend tak for Deres brev og tobakken –
det var altfor snildt af Dem at
tage af Deres egen forsyning.
De blir vel forarget paa mig nù, at
det dryger saa længe, förend jeg faar
færdig Deres billeder, – men har været
saa frygtelig plaget af mine kvælnings-
anfald, at jeg næsten intet har faaet udrettet
denne höst: – jeg har hovedsagelig arbei-
det med copien af den gamle gaard eller
rettere "hùsmandsplads", – det gamle billede
altsaa, som Kramer egentlig havde kjöbt
först, og som jeg (da De var her) var ùfor-
sigtig nok til at love ham en copi av; –
(at lave en copi af til ham istedenfor orgi-
nalen); – dette arbeide blev værre end
jeg tænkte, – jeg kunde lettere lavet et par
nye billeder af andre motiver. Saa har
jeg arbeidet en del paa billedet med (min
II
kone, som plùkker rabarbra) – har malt om-
igjen den ene figùr og holdt paa med æbletræet; – da
jeg fik Deres sidste brev satte jeg det dog tilside
for at tage fat paa "Deres" billeder; – naar ikke
De skal have "rabarbra"-billedet, tror jeg, at jeg
lader det staa til en anden vaar, – jeg
bùrde nemlig forsörge at komme afsted til
ùdlandet; – disse kvælningsanfald begynder
at tage haardt paa min övrige <konstitution> –
medicinerne ödelægger mig ogsaa – særlig ner-
verne. Jeg har paa grund af dette og lign.
ikke vovet at skrive og love nogen bestemt
tid, – nù haaber jeg, at De skal have billder-
i löbet af 14 dage – eller senest inden 3 ùger,
og om De önsker det, skal jeg sende nöiagtige
maal, om De skulde ville anskaffe rammer paa
forhaand. Her er rent ùmùligt at opdrive
materialer til en kasse, – jeg faar tage mine
olderbord (beregnede til træsnit) – stedets sned-
ker er bortreist, men jeg har var varslet ham
og haaber han skal kùnne udföre arbeidet om en
uges tid – der maa ogsaa nye rammer (blind-
III
rammer), – da de rammer, som er paa billeder-
nes bagside er hjemmelavede ùden "staal" og
"kiler"; – de kan derfor ikke brùges til at stram-
me billederne paa, om disse skulde "slakne".
Jeg tænkte paa at sendt Dem billederne i
en rùll – bare sammenrullede, – da det var
lettere at faa blindrammer i Bergen – men jeg
er bange – billderne vilde lide formeget
derved; – men hvis det blir knapt med
tiden, sender jeg da billederne i kasse bare paa
de improviserede blindrammer, – men De maa
da gjöre rammemakeren opmærksom paa
at rammerne billederne maa aftages og opspændes
paa nye blindrammer, som maa bestilles
paa forhaand, – da farvehandlerne aldrig leverer
blindrammer over 1 meter ùden paa bestilling.
Imidlertid lider billeder ofte ved avtagning af blind-
ramme og ný opspænding, – en ukyndig mand kan
lett ödelægge billederne ùnder dette vanskelige arbeide
og jeg haaber derfor, jeg skal kunne spare Dem og
rammemakeren for alt dette klùss – ved at faa
nye blindrammer arbeidet her, – saa jeg selv kan
faa spænde af og spænde op igjen lærrederne. Med de
bedste hilsener fra mig og min kone Deres forbundne
Translation
Sandal 2nd Nov. 1918
Dear Mr. Meyer!
Many thanks for Your letter and the tobacco –
it was much too kind of You to
take if from Your own supply.
You will be annoyed with me now, because
it is taking so long for me to
complete Your pictures, – [I] have been
so terribly afflicted by my choking
seizures, that I have hardly managed to accomplish anything
this autumn: – I have mostly worked
on a copy of the old farm or
rather "cotter’s farm", – the old picture
in other words, that Kramer had actually purchased
first, and which I (when You were here) was so care-
less as to promise him a copy of; –
(to make a copy for him instead of the origi-
nal); – this work has become worse than
I had thought, – I could have more easily made a couple of
new pictures of other motifs. I have
also worked a bit on the picture with (my
II
wife, picking rhubarb) – have painted over
again one of the figures and worked on the apple tree; – when
I received Your last letter I nevertheless put it aside
in order to get to work on "Your" pictures; – since You
shall not have the "rhubarb" picture, I think I will
let it rest for another spring, – I
should actually have been leaving on my trip
abroad; – these choking seizures are beginning
to have a serious effect on the rest of my <constitution> –
the medications are destroying me as well – my nerves
in particular. Because of this and similar matters I have
not dared to write and promise any definite
date, – now I hope, that You shall have the pictures
within a fortnight – or at the latest within 3 weeks,
and if You wish, I can send precise
measurements, if You wish to acquire frames ahead
of time. Here it is positively impossible to obtain
the wood materials for a crate, – I will use my
alder blocks (intended for woodcuts) – our local carpen-
ter is away, but I have notified him
and hope he will be able to finish the work in a
week’s time – new frames are also needed (stret-
III
chers), – as the frames, that are on the backside
of the pictures are homemade without "steel" or
"wedges"; – they can therefore not be used to tight-
en the pictures, in the event that they should "become slack".
I have thought about sending You the pictures in
a role – simply rolled together, – since it is
easier to obtain stretchers in Bergen – but I
am afraid – the pictures would suffer too much
from it; – but if there is lack of
time, I will send the pictures in a crate on
the improvised stretchers, – but then You must
inform the framer
that the frames the pictures must be dismantled and mounted
onto new stretchers, which must be ordered
ahead of time, – as the paint shops never deliver
stretchers larger than 1 meter without ordering first.
However pictures often suffer when dismantled from stret-
chers and re-stretched, – an inexperienced man can
easily ruin the pictures during this difficult process
and I therefore hope, that I shall be able to spare You and
the framer all this bother – by having
new stretchers fashioned here, – so that I can
dismantle and stretch the canvases anew myself. With
best wishes from me and my wife Yours sincerely