Letter

Astrup, Nikolai to Høst, Isabella
1914-11-10 (usikker)

Transcription:

Tor Martin Leknes

Translation:

Francesca Nichols

Page

  • 1,
  • 2,
  • 3,
  • 4,
  • 5,
  • 6
Transcription
Translation

Letter

Astrup, Nikolai to Høst, Isabella
1914-11-10 (usikker)
Brevs.531-66444, Nasjonalbiblioteket

6 Pages

Transcription: Tor Martin Leknes

Translation: Francesca Nichols

Transcription

Kjære Frú Höst!

Tak for Deres brev. Er De fremdeles i Bergen

eller er De reist Kristiania? Jeg fik et brev

fra Kaland, hvori han fortæller, at Deres mand

var udnævnt til en post i Kristiania – Er det 

saa? Gratulerer da hjærteligst! – men det blir

til sorg for kúnsten paa vestlandet, og da særlig for

mig, at I reiser herfra, – min existens har jo i

senere aar været meget afhængig af Eder, hvem

jeg skylder saa meget – uden Eders hjælp, vilde jeg

i disse aar, – da sygdom har herjet mig saa me-

get – búkket ganske under, – da jeg selv ikke hav-

de magtet at omsætte noget – særlig ikke træsnit. 

Ja naar jeg nævner træsnit saa er det, fordi jeg 

overhovedet ikke havde tænkt mig múligheden

af at kunne lave den slags til salg – det var

nærmest, fordi jeg vilde lave smaating til slegt og 

kjendinge, at jeg fandt paa at lave disse træ-

snittene, – og úden Deres bekjendtskab havde jeg 

neppe solgt et eneste. I Deres næstsidste brev bad

De mig sende tryk af 5 sorter, som De manglede til

en serie, som De troede múligens at have en kjöber 

til – jeg lavede da de 5 tryk, som jeg sendte i flere

slags tryk til Dem for nogle dage siden, men jeg

adresserede dem til Hop pr. Bergen, da jeg ikke vidste

Deres adr. i Kristiania. Angaaende de 2 tryk af

"Marts-stemning" var det min mening, at om De

og Deres datter likte dem, saa skulde I beholde dem

II

Som De ser, er det to noksaa forskjellige stemninger, 

det ene tænkte jeg mig som dag eller kveldstemning (det

blaa) – det andet mere udpaa vaarnatten – det sidste

er jo mere (artistisk) rafineret – idet jeg har benyttet mig af grön-

ligt papir som búnd; – det förste tryk, som gik til

udstillingen var jo ogsaa i en lignende stemning, – men

disse tre tryk er jo egentlig tre forskjellige stemninger, 

nú kan jeg selvfölgelig trykke disse tryk dette træsnit

i endnú flere stemninger – (har tænkt paa et i graaveir

og töveir) som De kanske kan se, har jeg skaaret lidt om

paa pladerne for hvert tryk (gjort olderens rodskud

lidt tyndere, – da de virkede vel grove i förste tryk) nogen

videre forandring i tegningen, tænker jeg dog ikke at gjöre,

men kan som sagt variere stemningen, – skúlde De

da önske at se flere tryk, forinden De valgte úd, saa

kan De bare nævne i hvilken retning De önsker trykt

– De har jo rigtignok bare seet 3 slags, – men naar

jeg fik vide, hvad De likte bedst af disse 3, kunde jeg

rette mig meget derefter i senere tryk. Karton har

jeg ikke mere af, – der var knapt nok til de sendte

tryk – Norby, som jeg fik dem fra, er læns; men

jeg tror at Alf Bjerke i Kristiania samt alle större

papirforretninger har det f. ex. Beyer Bergen –

– det gaar únder navn af aqúarelkarton eller kanske

somme kalder det goúage-papir da man en tid

brúgte det meget til at male goúage malerier

paa. Det forekommer i mange núancer i farver og valeúr

(varm graat, og grön graat synes jeg bedst om).

De nævnte noget om, at De likte den ene "job" bedre end

den anden tryk – dog nævnte De ikke, hvilken af de 2, 

III

De likte bedst – jeg antog, at det var den mörkeste tryk,

og trykte derfor disse (som jeg nú sendte) i den mörke tone. 

Kanske jeg tog feil? I tilfælde, det var det rette, 

haaber jeg, De og deres datter vil vælge ut hver sit – i mod-

sat fald, skal jeg trykke et par lysere, saasnart jeg får

vide dette, og sende Eder snarest; – det er jo en ússel

afbetaling paa min gjæld til Eder – faar haabe

det kúnde blive bedre en anden gang. Angaaende

"Regnbúen" saa var det ogsaa meningen, at I

skulde have disse 2 tryk, hvis jeg overhovedet tör by-

de Eder slige daarlige tryk – den var forresten aldeles

úmúlig at trykke, da ikke alle plader passed til

hinanden, – saa jeg efterpaa maatte fuske og retoúchere

sammen skjævhederne, – jeg slurvede formeget med

pladerne, da jeg skar dem, – det hævner sig, naar jeg skal

trykke – man har bare ærgrelse af sligt – jeg gjorde

da ogsaa kort proces med dem nú og brændte dem

op saanær som en plade, som jeg kan til at gaa ud

ifra, om jeg skulde skjære nye plader til dette

daarlige træsnit. Jeg blev ogsaa i papirmangel, da 

jeg skúlde trykke disse 2 og maatte bruge noget kröl-

let japanpapir, som jeg tidlige havde kasseret, {…}

fordi jeg fik det sendende i sammenrúllet tilstand

istedenfor fladt pakket. Jeg er altsaa skamfúld over

at sende Eder sligt, som neppe er værd plads i et 

soveværelse, – Hæng dem i den mörkeste krog, som

I har i soveværelset, [hvis I ikke vil helt kassere

dem.] Der kan múligens være lidt godt i stemningen

men udförelsen er simpleste sort, det lönner sig nok

at have bedste slags materialer, – men vi skal bytte

IIII

dem med bedre tryk, hvis jeg faar skaaret nye 

plader.

Tusend tak for hjælpen med melet hos Meyer, han

kunde ikke skaffe havre, og jeg fik noget klidmel i

stedet, og han var saa elskværdig at lade mig faa

melet paa regning indtil videre, slig at jeg kan betale

det med træsnit eller med St. Hans billedet. Ja jeg

gjorde Dem sikkert bryderi med dette – De maa

undskylde, at man i en slig krise tyr til sine venners

hjælp. Saa maa jeg ogsaa sige Dem tak for salget til

galleriet – Kaland arbeidede haardt med mig i sommer,

at jeg skulde trykke en serie til galleriet, – og jeg mente,

at det kúnde jeg spare mig, thi galleriet kjöbte aldrig

sligt. Nú kom jeg til at tænke paa, at De selvföl-

gelig mangler flere tryk, naar galleriet tog næsten

alle sort og hvidt tryk; – hvilke mangler De til

serien? Sort og hvidt tryk er noksaa húrtige at

trykke op igjen – behöver ikke at törres mellem hver

plade eller farve.

Her er et frygteligt veir om dagene, det regner 

uophörlig og sner indimellem – jeg har en del haa

(græs) staaende ude – og det blir vist fuldstændig öde-

lagt – jeg havde faaet det gamle tört og skúlde tage

det ind en dag, – saa kom en af naboerne og bad om at 

faa laane gútten vor til hjælp med potetoptagning

og úd paa kvelden kom úveiret. Engel og jeg strævede

det vi orkede med at bære ind, men mörket kom paa os,

og mesteparten maatte vi lade staa igjen ude.

V

Saa er der en ting, som jeg har tænkt frem og tilbage

paa: – skal jeg virkelig ha noget tilgode hos Kr. Thesen?

Jeg har ikke faaet noget andet end 150 Kr. fra ham

siden mai maaned ivaar; – men fik jeg ikke noget

ved júletider ifjor? Det var kanske fra en anden person?

Fik han alle 3 trykkene paa en gang? – jeg troede, at

han fik "akten" ifjor ved júletider, og at jeg da fik pen-

ge, men kanske jeg húsker feil, – kanske det var dr. Vef-

ring som kjöbte noget dengang straks för eller straks efter júl; –

Ja jeg plager Dem med dette – jeg skal for eftertiden skrive

op alt, hvad jeg faar og fra hvem (– ifald De fremdeles skul-

de være saa elskværdig at sælge noget for mig – jeg er

bange jeg har plaget Dem længe nok dermed). For sikker-

heds skyld skal jeg gjöre, som De beder mig om: og sende

en qúitering efter Deres formúlar; hvis han da har

sendt de 60 Kr., hvad postboken ikke viser (siden mai), saa vil han

vel sige ifra – saa skal jeg gjöre postvæsenet ansvarlig,

hvis der ikke er gaaet mere end et halvt aar siden belöbets

afsendelse; – er der gaaet længere tid, kan man vistnok

ikke fordre noget, om det er bortkommet únderveis.

En ting er sikkert: Har Thesen sendt 2 belöb siden mai

maaned, saa er det ene bortkommet únderveis. Men

det maa jo være kjedeligt for Dem at fordre ham for

noget, som han múligens har sendt; jeg var saa meget

syg ivaar, at jeg ikke fúlgte med i noget og húsker ikke en-

gang desværre om de 150, som staar i postboken, var fra

Thesen, eller om de var fra Vefring; – jeg begynder at

tro at disse 150 var fra Vefring, og at Thesen sendte

et lignende belöb tidligere paa vaaren eller rettere vinteren.

VI

Hvis jeg vidste, hvilke tryk Wefring kjöbte og nogenlúnde hvad tid det var og til

hvilke priser, saa vilde det være lettere for mig

at finde úd af denne knúde – jeg skal ogsaa faa

postboken úndersögt tidligere end i mai – hidtil

har jeg kún úndersögt saa langt tilbage; – desværre

staar der i postboken kún hvorfra (stedet) – ikke personens

afsenderens navn – kanske man gjennem postbökerne

i Bergen kúnde faa rede paa hvad saavel Thesen 

som Wefring har sendt – jeg har nemlig i min

erindring blandet disse to navne sammen tidligere

Naar jeg opgiver tager har ankomstdagen hid paa de forskjellige

belöb – maatte jeg ved at regne 2-3 dage tilbage i tiden

finde úd, naar de var sendt fra Bergen og ved at

opgive disse afsendelsesdage til Bergens postkontor,

maatte man der kúnne opgive, hvem pengene var

sendt fra. Bedst er det da kan hænde at lade

alt bero indtil saken er klarere. Hvis de 150 Kr. 

er fra Vefring, saa har Thesen intet sendt siden ifjor

vinter (förend siden mai maaned), og hvis Thesen har sendt

de 150 kr., saa har Vefring ikke sendt noget siden mai.

Men dette gaar snart rúndt for mig – jeg erindrer at

De ifjor ved juletider skrev til mig, at De for at skaffe

mig penge til júl havde solgt lidt billigere noget, –

om det var til Vefring eller Thesen erindrer jeg ikke, men

tror helst det var til Thesen – og isaafald skulde han jo have

betalt noget dengang allerede. Ja dette blir jo mere ind-

viklet efterhvert. Det er bedst jeg slutter nú og ikke pla-

ger Dem mere. Hils frk. Inger, og Deres mand hjærteligst fra

mig. Engel beder hilse meget til frk. Inger. Deres hengivne Astrup

Translation

Dear Mrs. Höst!

Thank you for Your letter. Are You still in Bergen

or have You left for Kristiania [Oslo]? I received a letter

from Kaland, in which he says, that Your husband

was appointed to a position in Kristiania – Is it 

true? If so my sincerest congratulations! – but it will be

a great loss for art in West Norway, and especially for

me, when You leave us, – my existence has in

recent years been very dependent on You, to whom

I owe so much – without Your help, I would have

during these years, – when illness has afflicted me so

harshly – truly gone under, – as I did not have

the strength to sell anything – in particular woodcuts.

And when I mention woodcuts, it is because I 

could never have imagined the possibility

of creating that kind of thing for sale – it was

more, because I wished to make small things for family and

friends, that I came upon the idea of making these wood-

cuts, – and without Your acquaintances I would 

hardly have sold even one. In Your last-but-one letter 

You asked me to send prints of 5 types, that You lacked

in a series, that You thought You might have a buyer 

for – I thus made the 5 prints, which I sent in several

versions to You a few days ago, but I

addressed them to Hop via Bergen, as I did not know

Your adr. in Kristiania. Regarding the 2 prints of

"March atmosphere" it was my intention, if You

and Your daughter liked them, that You should keep them

II

As You can see, they are two rather different atmospheres, 

one of them I thought of as daytime or evening atmosphere (the

blue one) – the other later into the spring night – the latter

is more (artistically) refined – since I have used a green-

ish paper as the foundation; – the first print, to be sent to

the exhibition was in a similar atmosphere, – but 

these three prints are actually three different atmospheres, 

now I can of course print these prints this woodcut

in even more atmospheres – (have thought of one in overcast

and mild weather) [a]s You can perhaps see, I have carved slight

changes in the blocks for each print (made the red shoots of the alder

a little thinner, – as they seemed a bit coarse in the first print) any

further changes in the design, I do not plan to make,

but can as mentioned vary the atmosphere, – should You

wish to see additional prints, before You make your selection,

You can merely mention in what way You would like the print

– You have actually only seen 3 types, – but when

I have heard, what You like best of these 3, I can

use this as a guide in later prints. Printing board

I am out of, – there was hardly enough for the dispatched

prints – Norby, where I obtained them, are sold out; but

I believe Alf Bjerke in Kristiania as well as all the large

paper retailers have it[,] for instance Beyer Bergen –

– it goes under the name of watercolour board or perhaps

some call it gouache paper since it was once

frequently used to paint gouache paintings

on. It comes in many nuances of colour and values

(I like warm grey, and green-grey best).

You mentioned something about, how You preferred one of the "Jobs" better than

the other print – however You did not mention, which of the 2, 

III

You liked best – I assumed, that it was the darkest print,

and therefore printed those in the dark tone (which I have just dispatched). 

Perhaps I was mistaken? In case, it was the right one,

I hope, that You and Your daughter will select one each – in the op-

posite case, I shall print a couple of lighter ones, as soon as I am

informed of this, and send them to You as soon as possible; – it is a trifling

instalment on my debt to You – let’s hope

it might be better another time. Regarding

"The Rainbow" it was also my intention, that You

should have these 2 prints, if I dare at all of-

fer You such poor prints – it was incidentally quite

impossible to print, since not all the blocks fit

each other, – so that I later had to fiddle with and retouch 

the crooked parts, – I was too careless with

the blocks, when I carved them, – but I suffer the consequences, when I

print them – it only causes frustration – but I

made short work of it and burned them 

up all but one, which I can make use as

a starting point, if I decide to carve new blocks for this 

inferior woodcut. I also lacked paper, when 

I was going to print these 2 and had to use some wrin-

kled Japanese paper, which I had previously discarded, {…}

because it was shipped to me in a rolled state

instead of packaged flat. I am in other words ashamed

to send You such work, which is hardly worthy of space in a 

bedroom, – Hang them in the darkest corner, of

Your bedroom, [if You do not wish to discard them

entirely.] There is possibly something good in the atmosphere

but the execution is of the poorest standard, it probably pays

to have the best quality materials, – but we shall exchange

IIII

them with better prints, if I can carve new 

blocks.

Many thanks for the assistance with the flour from Meyer, he

could not obtain oats, and I received some bran flour in-

stead, and he was so kind as to let me have

the flour on credit for the time being, so that I can pay

for it with woodcuts or with the Midsummer Eve picture. Well I

have certainly caused You inconvenience with this – You must 

pardon that in such a crisis one resorts to the assistance of

one’s friends. And then I must also thank You for the sale to

the gallery – Kaland worked hard on me this summer,

to convince me to print a series for the gallery, – and I felt

that I could spare myself, since the gallery never purchased

such things. It just occurred to me now, that You must of 

course be missing several prints, since the gallery took almost

all the black-and-white prints; – which ones are You missing in 

the series? Black-and-white prints are reasonably fast to 

print up again – do not need to dry in between each

block or colour.

The weather here is terrible these days, it rains 

incessantly and snows on and off – I have some second cuttings

(grass) placed outside – and it is most likely completely des-

troyed – I had managed to dry out the old grass and was about to bring

it inside one day, – when one of our neighbours came to ask if he

might borrow our boy to help with the potato harvesting

and later in the evening the storm began. Engel and I strove

as hard as we could to carry it indoors, but the dark came upon us,

and we were forced to leave most of it outside.

V

And then there is something, which I have considered at 

length: – is it really true that Kr. Thesen still owes me something?

I have not received more than 150 kr. from him

since the month of May this spring; – but didn’t I receive something

around Christmastime last year? Was it perhaps from another person?

Did he receive all 3 prints at once? – I thought, that

he received "the nude" last year around Christmastime, and that I was paid

then, but perhaps I remember incorrectly, – perhaps it was dr. Vef-

ring who purchased something back then immediately before or after Christmas; – 

Well I am troubling You with this – I shall from now on write

everything down, what I receive and from whom (– in case You will continue to 

be so kind as to sell something for me – I am

afraid I have bothered You long enough with this). Just in

case I shall do, as You ask of me: send

a receipt according to Your procedure; if he has

sent the 60 kr., which the postal record does not show (since May), then he will

let me know – and I will hold the postal service responsible,

if less than half a year has not passed since the amount

was dispatched; – if more time has passed, one apparently

cannot demand anything, if it has been lost en route.

One thing is certain: If Thesen has sent 2 amounts since the month

of May, then one of them has been lost en route. But

it must be a nuisance for You to demand something from

him, which he may have sent; I was so very

ill this spring, that I did not keep track of anything and do not e-

ven remember whether the 150, which are listed in the postal records, were from

Thesen, or if they were from Vefring; – I am beginning to

think that these 150 were from Vefring, and that Thesen sent

a similar amount earlier in the spring or rather in winter.

VI

If I knew, which prints Wefring purchased and more or less what period and for

what prices, then it would be easier for me

to unravel this mystery – I shall also have

the postal records examined further back than May – until now

I have only investigated that far back; – unfortunately

only the origin (place) is listed in the postal records – not the person’s

the name of the sender – perhaps via the postal records

in Bergen one might find out what both Thesen 

and Wefring have sent – I have in my

recollection previously mixed these two names together 

When I specify take have the day of arrival here of the various

amounts – I can by calculating 2-3 days back in time

find out, when they were sent from Bergen and by

submitting the dispatch date to Bergen’s post office,

one should be able to reveal, from whom the money was

sent. Perhaps it is best to let everything

rest until the situation has become clearer. If the 150 kr. 

are from Vefring, then Thesen has sent nothing since last

winter (before since the month of May), and if Thesen has sent

the 150 kr., then Vefring has not sent anything since May.

But I am becoming confused now – I recollect that

You wrote to me last year around Christmastime, that in order to obtain

money for me for Christmas You had sold something a little more cheaply, –

whether it was to Vefring or Thesen I do not recollect, but

believe it was to Thesen – and in that case he should have 

paid something already then. Well this becomes more and more 

complicated. It is best I cease now and not both-

er You any more. My warmest greetings to Miss Inger, and Your husband. Engel sends her

warmest greetings to Miss Inger. Your devoted Astrup