Letter
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