Kjære Höst og frúe!

Túsend tak for sidst. Undskyld

mig, at jeg ikke har skrevet

för og takket for den store

venlighed, I viste mig paa min

reise til Kjöbenhavn og Stok-

holm; men jeg har været

skamfuld over, at jeg ikke

har havt noget at sende

Eder – jeg havde et par nye

træsnit únder arbeide, men

har ikke faaet dem færdige –

dels paa grund af sygdom og dels

paa grúnd af en bestilling, som

har paafört mig en masse

arbeide, tidtap og sygdom, og

som tilslút ikke skaffed

mig andet end sorg og ærgrel-

se. Jeg havde nemlig i höst, –

– da Krantz besögte mig – 

et billede under arbeide

– et höstbillede, som Krantz

var meget begeistret for, og

som han hadde omtalt i

Bergen med den fölge, at jeg;

(da jeg straks efter kom ind

til Bergen for at reise til 

Stokholm) – straks fik fore-

spörgsel fra en skibsreder

Ørvig, om jeg vilde sælge ham

billedet – jeg skulde faa god pris.

Jeg svarte, at jeg ikke selv var

fornöiet med billedet – jeg

syntes ikke selv, at det var helt 

godt, men jeg haabede ved at ar-

beide videre paa at faa et godt

billede af motivet – Da jeg et

par dage senere var i Kristiania,

fik jeg en ny opfordring fra

samme Ørvig om at "sælge

ham et billede som jeg selv

havde sagt var daarligt, han

vilde have det alligevel sa

han – jeg syntes det var en

únderlig bestilling og talte med

nogle malere om det. Henrik

Lúnd, som Ørvig havde sendt mig

sin hilsen eller bestilling igjennem

mente, at det at forstaa slig

at Ørvig havde den tiltro til mig

og min kunst, at jeg ikke gjorde

noget daarligt – eller i allefald

ikke leverede noget daarligt billede

Og efter samraad med flere

andre malere bestemte jeg mig

da for at forsöge alle mine

<krefter> paa at gjöre et godt

billede ud af det omtalte, – især

naar manden havde en slig

ubetinget tiltro til mig og min

kunst. Og da jeg under mit op-

hold i Kjöbenhavn blev ganske 

II

frisk, (hvad jeg ikke var för reisen),

saa gik jeg straks igang med 

billedet, da jeg kom hjem. Imid-

lertid fik jeg i mellemtiden nok

en opfordring fra Ørvik gjennem

maleren Otto Johansen, til hvem

han havde sagt at han önskede 

et billede af Astrup stadig og bad

ham hilse mig. Jeg arbeidede som

sagt af alle kræfter paa billedet

og forkjölede mig ogsaa af den

grund ganske slemt, saa jeg ^blev syg

en maaneds tid, men kom mig paa

fode og arbeidede videre trods

pengemangel, panting, nöd og elen-

dighed; thi jeg havde jo sikre penge

i vente hos Ørvig, hvad jeg ogsaa

forespeilede mine kreditorer, og

da jeg ved júletider var færdig med

billedet, syntes jeg selv, at det

var et godt billede om ikke

af mine bedste. Jeg sendte da

billedet til Bergens kúnstfor-

ening efter opfordring fra Kaland,

som som ogsaa kjendte til be-

stillingen. Der gik en maaned

för jeg hörte noget, – sygdommen

tog mig igjen – kreditorerne plaged

mig som sedvanlig, – og jeg ven-

tede hver dag i spænding paa

penge fra Ørvik. Endelig

fik jeg brev fra Kaland h,

hvori han beklager, at Ørvik

ikke vil ha billedet – det

havde truffet sig saa uheldigt,

at en ven af Ørvik kom hin

til ham, da han var paa vei

op i kunstforeningen for at

se billedet, og samme ven af

Ørvik syntes, billedet var daar-

ligt, og derfor syntes Ørvik

det samme – tiltrods for, at 

Kaland fremholdt alle billedets

gode egenskaber. 

Krantz og Kaland er jo de 

eneste malere, jeg veed om, som

har seet billedet, og de synes

det er godt, – særlig Krantz er me-

get begeistret for det, men nú

er de begge to bortreist for at

decorerer en villa, som de har

faaet bestilling paa, – og jeg

har saaledes ingen at tale

min sag blandt de sagkyndige.

Kaland overlod ved afreisen

billedet til Korsvold og bad

ham realisere det for mig, –

jeg har intet hört fra ham, og

jeg er bange for at ^<han> ikke er

saa helt paalidelig. Kjender 

De nogen i Bergen, som jeg

kunde henvende mig til? Ka-

land faar i saafald faa Kors-

vold til at udlevere billedet

til samme. Jeg vil ikke plage

Eder med at sælge billedet;

               III

thi jeg har gjort Eder alt for

meget bryderi med salg af

billeder för, – kanske jeg

kunde sende billedet til

kunstnerforbúndet? – men

jeg er ikke i kridthus der

heller, – særlig siden denne

historie med det saakald-

te "Vestlandske kunstner-

forbúnd" en indretning, 

som jeg ikke kjender det 

allerringeste til, men

som úden at spörge 

eller varsle mig derom

har benyttet mitt navn

offentligt i aviserne, som

en af stifterne af dette

tvivlsomme forbúnd, der 

skal have til formaal

at modarbeide "Kunst-

nerforbúndet" i Kristiania,

fordi dette for lidet har

varetaget de vestlandske

kunstneres interesser.

Antagelig staar Thúnold

bag dette, – jeg veed intet

derom; men hans navn

stod ogsaa blandt stifterne,

han er en lúmsk og úbe-

regnlig fyr fuld af lögn

sladder og ondskab, som bare

pönser paa at sætte ondt mel-

lem venner. 

Jeg kunde jo skrive til Kunst-

nerforbúndet og oplyse om

at jeg intet har med dette

"Vestlandske kunstnerforbúnd",

men jeg har altid det uheld,

at mine bagvaskere tror ^man {…}

bedre end mig selv, og det

nytter da intet at forsvare

sig.

Vi lever trods fattigdom

dog nogenlunde; – den lille

er mod formodning kommet

sig ganske bra, men er sær,

saa Engel stakkár faar liden

nattesövn, – jeg gjör mig

ligeglad – efter dr. Krohns raad –

– ja jeg er endog ligeglad om

jeg skal blive fordreven fra

dette mit andet hjem ogsaa

– thi i nödsfald har jeg endnú

kræfter til at arbeide som

en anden kropsarbeider. –

Jeg har nú faaet fat i ægte

japansk papir – ikke det

imiterede – det var dyrt – 110 Kr.

for en liden pakke – en dansk

lithograf skaffed mig det

direkte fra Japan; – jeg faar

nú forsöge at faa istand rigtig

gode tryk til Múnch, og er det

nogen Dere önsker, saa bare sig fra.

Med de bedste hilsener fra Engel

og mig. Eders hengivne Astrúp

Konvolutt, framside:

Til

Hr. Overlærer Sigùrd Höst & frùe

Adr. Latinskolen

Kristiania

Dear Höst and Mrs.!

It was wonderful to see you. Forgive

me for not having written

sooner to thank You for the great

kindness You showed me on my

trip to Copenhagen and Stock-

holm; but I have been

ashamed, because I have not

had anything to send

You – I had a couple of new

woodcuts in progress, but

have not been able to finish them –

partly due to illness and partly

because of a commission, which

has caused me a great deal of

work, waste of time and illness, and

which in the end did not bring

me anything but grief and vexa-

tion. You see this fall, –

– when Krantz visited me – 

I was working on a picture 

– an autumn picture, which Krantz

was very enthusiastic about, and

which he had talked about in

Bergen with the result, that I;

(shortly after I came 

to Bergen on my way to 

Stockholm) – soon received a

request from a shipowner named

Ørvig, asking if I would sell him

the picture – I was promised a good price.

I replied, that I was not 

satisfied with the picture – I

did not think, that it was good 

enough, but I hoped that by work-

ing further on it I would achieve a good

rendition of the motif – When a

few days later I was in Kristiania [Oslo],

I received a new request from

the same Ørvig asking me to "sell

him a picture that I

had said was inferior, he

said he wished to have it no 

matter what – I thought it was a

strange commission and spoke with

some painters about it. Henrik

Lúnd, whom Ørvig had sent me

his message or commission through

believed that one might interpret it to mean

that Ørvig had such a belief in me 

and my art, that I was not capable

of creating anything inferior – or at least

of delivering an inferior picture 

And after consulting several

other painters I made the decision

to invest all my

<energy> into making a good

picture out of the aforementioned [motif], – especially

since the man had such an

unconditional belief in me and my

art. And because during my 

stay in Copenhagen I became quite

II

well, (which I was not prior to the trip),

I immediately began working 

on the picture, upon my return. How-

ever in the meantime I received

another request from Ørvik through

the painter Otto Johansen, to whom

he had said that he still wanted 

a picture by Astrup and he asked him

to convey to me his greetings. I worked as

mentioned with all my might on the picture 

and for that reason came down with

quite a nasty cold, so that I ^was ill

for about a month, but got back on

my feet and continued to work despite

lack of money, pawning, distress and mis-

ery; because I was certain to receive 

money from Ørvig, which I also

informed my creditors of, and

when around Christmastime I was finished with

the picture, I thought, that it

was a good picture if not

one of my best. I then sent

the picture to Bergens kunstfor-

ening upon the advice of Kaland

who who was also aware of the com-

mission. A month passed

before I heard anything, illness 

overwhelmed me again – my creditors harasssed

me as usual, – and I wait-

ed every day in anticipation of

the money from Ørvik. At last

I received a letter from Kaland h

in which he regrets, that Ørvik

does not want the picture – the 

unfortunate fact was,

that a friend of Ørvik approached

him, as he was on his way

up to the art association to

view the picture, and the same friend of

Ørvik thought the picture was in-

ferior, and Ørvik was therefore of

the same opinion – despite the fact, that

Kaland emphasised all of the picture’s

good qualities. 

Krantz and Kaland are the

only painters, I know of, who

have seen the picture, and they think

it is good, – Krantz especially is ve-

ry enthusiastic about it, but now

they are both out of town to

decorate a villa, which they have

gotten a commission to do, – and I

have thus no one among the

experts to defend my case.

Kaland before departing entrusted

the picture to Korsvold and asked

him to sell it for me, –

I have not heard from him, 

and I’m afraid that ^<he> is not

very reliable. Do You know

anyone in Bergen, who I 

might appeal to? Ka-

land might at least get Kors-

vold to relinquish the picture 

to this person. I do not wish to bother

You with selling the picture;

               III

for I have caused You far too

much bother with the sale of 

pictures before, – perhaps I

might send the picture to

kunstnerforbundet? – but

I am not very popular there

either, – especially since that

story about the so-called

"West Norway artists

union" an institution, 

which I have absolutely no  

knowledge of, but 

which without asking 

or informing me 

has listed my name

publicly in the newspapers, as

one of the founders of this

questionable association, whose 

purpose is 

to oppose "Kunst-

nerforbúndet" in Kristiania [Oslo],

because it has failed to

look after the interests of West

Norway’s artists.

Thúnold is most likely

responsible for this, – I know nothing

about it; but his name

is also listed among the founders,

he is a cunning and un-

predictable fellow full of deceit

gossip and malice, who is only

interested in creating bad blood be-

tween friends. 

I could of course write to Kunst-

nerforbúndet and inform them

that I have nothing to do with this

"West Norway artists union",

but I have always been so unfortunate,

that one believes my maligners {…}

more than myself, and then

there is no use defending one-

self.

We survive somehow 

despite poverty; – the baby

has despite everything recovered

quite well, but is sensitive,

so that poor Engel doesn’t get enough

sleep at night, – I try to remain

indifferent – according to dr. Krohn’s advice –

– indeed I am even indifferent as to

whether I shall be driven from 

this my second home as well

– for in case of emergency I still have

the energy to work like

any other manual worker. –

I have now gotten hold of authentic

Japanese paper – not the

imitation quality – it was expensive – 110 Kr.

for a little package – a Danish

lithographer obtained it for me

directly from Japan; – I shall

now attempt to achieve really

good prints for Múnch, and if there is

something You wish for, just say so. 

With best wishes from Engel

and me. Your devoted Astrúp

Envelope, front:

To

Mr. Headmaster Sigùrd Höst & Mrs.

Adr. The Cathedral School

Kristiania [Oslo]