Tekst vertikalt venstre:

Dù skaffet mig vistnok noget pariserblaat ivaar (Berlinerblaat) – blèu de prùsse – chine-

sisk blaat – Antwerpenblaat – mineralblaat, eller hvad det heder – men jeg har ikke kùnnet 

finde det igjen siden – la jeg det igjen i Bergen? – eller blev det ikke kjöbt?

Kjære Kramer!

Tak for dit brev. – Det blev en stùnd förend

jeg svarede, – vi har nemlig havt barnedaap

paa "Dagfin Harald", – og saa har vi havt besök

af min mor og min bror Christian ^{med kone og barn} han 

döbte barnet i Helgheim kirke; – (barnedaap 

næsten som sidst ^{da dù var her}, – dog ikke fùldt saa mange

mennesker). Imidlertid har jeg arbeidet som 

en tyrk i de faa ledige stùnder for at faa

færdig de to træsnit til de to doktorer, og

uleselig notat – ikke Astrup sin håndskrift

synes jeg har faaet dem ganske gode (– rent

kunstnerisk seet); – men jeg har en fölelse

af, at der vil være noget, som de herrer

ikke vil være helt fornöiet med, eller at 

der blir "brök i regningen"; – jeg sender dem 

idag – ùden karton, – da dù tilböd dig at skaffe

karton og indramming, – dù faar före det paa

regning. – Jeg har gjort lidt variation i 

disse tryk – efter som jeg har erindret tidlige-

2

re tryk, – det med den mörkeste himmel anser

jeg bedst). Jeg kùnde kanske gjort dem 

bedre, om jeg havde havt bedre papir, – det

er Beyers, – og man maa formelig "tvinge" farve

ind i det papiret, – da det næsten intet vil tage

til sig. Det er noksaa vanskeligt at trykke paa. 

Mine arbeidsfolk har forladt mig forelöbig, – 

de arbeider nù ùde paa din eiendom, og de

har leiet "Flekken" med sig i arbeidet, og han 

er en samvittighedsfuld mand – mere end de

andre, – han vilde have mig ud at se paa ar-

beidet, og jeg har været der ùde, – det var saa

vanskelig at faa "rùnd" sten til "vis" alle steder, 

der maa jo være "baand" i bygningen af mùren, 

særlig da den blir noksaa höi nedentil. – Jeg

hörer, at han dùndrer og minerer (med krùdt)

der ùde til mörke kvelden. –––

Ja saa var det takvinduerne til attelieret og

de andre vindùer; – den store rùde, som jeg 

3

spùrgte om prisen paa, – (det fik jeg jo intet ^{jeg er senere begyndt at tro at jeg mis-/forstaar/dig}

vide om i dit brev); – dit forslag om en "tver-

deling" kan jeg ikke rigtig gaa med paa, – jeg

kommer til at gaa og ærgre mig alle dage

over en slig ordning, – det föler jeg paa forhaand, – 

dù veed, man har sine egenheter, – og det forekom-

mer mig, som noget lapværk, – jeg forstaar nok, 

hvorfor dù foreslaar dette: det er vel saa at en 

rute af speilglas som skal være 2 m. lang (eller

nöiagtig 192 cm), at den helst bùrde være bredere

end en meter, da der elles maa sjæres af

originalplaten af glas; men en saadan afskaaren 

glasdel kùnde jeg ogsaa brùke, i fald den er over

en halv meter bred, jeg har nemlig et vindù, som 

er ca. 100 cm.÷ x 50 cm (dörvindù) men jeg kan jo ordne

bredden med rammen eller indfatningen slig at det

passer – om ^{hvis bare} den afskaarne glasdel ikke blir meget

ùnder en halv meters bredde, – længden maatte da

afskjæres paa knapt 1 m. længde (som ovenfor nævnt)

den anden del af den afskaarne længde kùnde 

jeg ogsaa sikkert faa anvendelse for. Altsaa

jeg maa have en speilglas rùde 192 cm. x 100 cm.

4

Dù synes vel, at man ikke bùrde være saa flot, naar

man er en fattig forgjældet pengelös dævel. Prisen 

Kr. 120 for en speilglas rùte 150 x 100 synes jeg ogsaa

var billigt, men da synes jeg det blev dyrt Kr. 30 for en

rùte af alm. dobl. glas 40 x 100 – hele ruten 

vindùet med begge rùter skùlde da komme paa

Kr. 150, – – da vil jeg heller lægge Kr. 100 til, hvis

jeg for den pris kan faa hel speilglas rùte. 

Men kanske jeg misforstaar dit brev, og at det

skal være slig, at en hel speilglas rùte paa 1 m. 

gange 192 cm. vilde koste 120.00, medens man 

med alm. dobl. glas kùnde faa begge rùder ^{150 + 40}

for tilsammen Kr. 30. – I saafald er det jo særde-

les billigt, – og isaafald maa jeg bede dig om 

undskyldning for min udtalelse om, at jeg "intet

fik vite om prisen paa den store speilglasrùte". 

Angaaende takvinduerne er jeg enig med dig og

Fritjof Andersen i, at traadglas kanske er tryggest

at tage, men da kan rùderne kanske være 1 m. i kvadrat

altsaa 100 x 100 cm. – da jeg derved sparede endel 

tversprosser, som altid er vanskelige at faa tætte

Forelöbig vil jeg bare tage 3 slige rùter, og da jeg 

5

ikke er saa helt sikker paa, om det vil lykkes

at at faa taget helt tæt – i fald sneen

ligger paa rùterne, og det mùligens blev varmt

inde saa det smeltede sneen ^{saa den frös om natten}, – saa har jeg tænkt

paa at anvende dobbelte rùter i taket, og da

der intet vil röine paa de inderste ^{ùnderliggende} rùter, kùnde

disse entet være af alm. dobl. glas eller af

smedet glas (hamret glas), – jeg veed ikke, hvad

der er billigst, – jeg tager selvfölgelig det billigste. 

Det blev da 6 rùter paa 100 cm. x 100 cm. deraf

de 3 af traadglas. – Hvis Hr. Andersen finder det

billigere at tage en anden længde en 100 cm., kan 

det godt gaa an – hele tagvindùets længde blir da

ca. 3 meter, og det kan da gjerne være 2 rùter bare – 

paa 150 cm. hver, – men 100 cm. x 100 cm. vilde

jo passe mig bedst. Saa maa jeg ogsaa have nogen 

andre rùder af almindelig glas dobl., – men 

en del af disse faar jeg give opgave over senere. 

Vi brùgte "attelieret" til soverùm nù ùnder barne-

daaben, og alle var begeistrede over det pene rùm; 

med vindùer og alt andet (de japanske döre o.s.v.)

vil det jo bli endnù bedre, – men "gùd tröste meg", 

hvor jeg skal tage pengene fra til at betale alt. 

6

Dù nævner, at jeg skal sende "stillebenet" til dr. Kreyberg,

men jeg tror ikke han vil like det i sin nùværende

tilstand, – jeg betragter det bare som en ren kùnst-

nerisk stùdie ^övelse over former og farver i frit forhold til

hindanden, – saa at Eies indvending om perspektivet

nok har sin berettigelse. Jeg fik et smigrende brev

fra Kreyberg om maleren Mohrs udtalelser om mine

ting – et lignende brev fik jeg fra H. Sörensen ^{med udtalelser af Hr. Mohr,} – saa

jeg maa altsaa rent ùventet have faaet en beùndrer

i malereren Mohr. Angaaende "stillebenet", maa jeg

male det helt om til Kreyberg isaafald, – jeg

tænker at tage væk baade koppen og thefatet i

forgrùnden eller i allefald forandre deres plads

og form, – havde jeg bare havt nogen rigtig grönne

og rigtig röde æpler, skùlde jeg anvendt dem

isteden. Billedet til Neymann staar og skam-

mer sig for tiden, – noget bedre end sidst, – er det

dog blevet. – Engel beder hilse. Kristian er daarlig 

af bronkit. Dù skùlde vel ikke hùske, hvor det jernet blev

af, som dù tok stifter ud med paa Myklebùst (det lille "kùbeinet")

Dù kvier dig vel paa at kræve frù Breyholtz – jeg skal jo have

250 kr. for St. Hans baalet – jeg skulde jo faa det i augùst? 

Ja dù maa ùndskylde at jeg plager dig. Med de bedste

hilsener til dere alle din 

N. Astrup

P.S.

Kjære ven!

Da jeg skùlde ned i postkassen med brevet til 

dig, laa der brev fra dig, og jeg skal nù i hasten 

svare lidt paa det. – Det meste veed dù nù af

det andet brev, som jeg lægger sammen med dette – 

saaledes om "barnets navn" o.s.v. – din paabegyndte

grùndmùr o.s.v. – jeg skal tage mig tùr ud og

se til arbeidet og give dig ùnderretning fra tid

til anden; – kommende mandag skal nedrivningen 

begynde paa Myklebùst. – Jo jeg skal tage "om-

hænde" det, som maatte komme til dig, – og

faa bilföreren at höre efter; – ja det er altsaa i mit navn

det er sendt, – bare vi ikke tager feil af Zinken, 

saa jeg brùker den paa mit tak, – men det blir 

jo en anden bredde antagelig – jeg skrev paa

glaslisten 70–80 cm bredde, men 150 kan ogsaa

passe, og da behöver jeg ikke mere end 4,25 cm. længde

Det er kanske lettere for dig end for Didr. Andersen 

at skaffe Zink. Hos hvem tror dù, jeg kan faa

billigst kjöb paa blyplater? – jeg tænker at lave

mig et badekar af træ og fore det med bly, – helst

vilde jeg lavet mig 2 kar, – et til varmt og et til 

koldt, men jeg faar ikke raad til det for det förste.

Kanske Jacob Neymann har bly ("platlod" kaldes det jo)

Ja saa maa dù frembringe min hjærteligste

gratùlation til Aagot i anledning antagelsen 

til "Statens"! – Min mor og bror reiste nordover

igaar; – nù faar jeg til med at faa gjort færdig

"Rævebjelderne" til Kreyberg, – det er et sent

arbeide – og jeg plages af forkjöling og asthma, – 

men har ikke endnu havt slige anfald som för

afrika tùren, – men de kommer nok, – men ved

hjælp af koldt og varmt bad kan jeg kanske döive

dem lidt. Kan dù faa greie paa pris pr. skisse:kvadrat m. 

af bly? Zink kùnde kanske brùkes men blir 

saa snart hùl paa. –––

Vi lever nogenlùnde trods pengemangel, vi har dog 

havt uheld med en ko, som vi leiede (da det blev for

dyrt at kjöbe ko), – den bliver ikke "greiet" (fri efterbyrden)

og melker derfor ikke halvdelen af det den skùlde. 

Ja lev da vel og hils Kreyberg – jeg burde skrevet – men 

skriver saa daarlig for tiden. Bedste hilsen fra os

alle her – Eders Astrup

Vertical text in left margin: 

You supposedly obtained some Paris blue for me this spring (Berlin blue) – Prussian blue –

Chinese blue – Antwerp blue – mineral blue, or whatever it’s called – but I have not been able

to find it since – did I leave it in Bergen? – or was it not purchased?

Dear Kramer!

Thank you for your letter. – It took a while before

I responded, – we have had a Christening 

for “Dagfin Harald” you see, – and we have thus had a visit

from my mother and my brother Christian ^{with wife and children} he 

baptised the child in Helgheim church; – (Christening 

nearly the same as the last time when you were here, – though not quite as many

people). In the meantime I have worked like

a Turk during the few free moments in order to 

finish the two woodcuts for the two doctors, and

illegible note – not in Astrup’s handwriting

feel that the I have achieved a rather good result (– in a purely

artistic sense); – but I have a feeling

that there will be something, which the gentlemen

will not be fully satisfied with, or that 

there will be “protests regarding the invoice”; – I am sending them 

today – without printing board, – since you offered to procure

printing board and frames, – you must add it to my

account. – I have made a slight variation in

these prints – based on what I remembered from ear-

2

lier prints, – the one with the darkest sky I consider

best). I might have been able to make them 

better, if I had had better paper, – it’s

Beyers, – and one has to practically “force” the paint

into that paper, – as it will not absorb hardly

anything. It’s quite difficult to print on. 

My workmen have abandoned me temporarily, – 

they are working out at your property now, and they

have hired “the Mole” to work with them, and he 

is a conscientious man – more than the

others, – he wants to have me come out to inspect the

work, and I have been out there, – it was so

difficult to find enough “round” stones for “display” everywhere, 

there needs to be an “level base” in building the foundation, 

especially since it is rather high on the low end. – I

can hear him thundering and blasting (with cordite)

out there until late at night. –––

And then there was the matter of the skylight windows for the studio and

the other windows; – the large pane, which I 

3

enquired about the price of, – (I did not see anything ^{I have lately begun to think that I mis-/understand/you}

about it in your letter); – your proposal about a “dividing it 

in two” I cannot really agree to, – I 

would be irritated every day

over such a solution, – I can sense it beforehand, – 

you know, one has one’s peculiarities, – and it seems

to me to be a kind of patchwork, – I understand, 

why you suggest this: it’s true that a 

pane of reflective glass that is 2 m. long (or

precisely 192 cm), should preferably be wider 

than a metre, as it must otherwise be cut from

the original pane of glass; but such a cut-off 

section of glass I would also have use for, if it is more than

half a metre wide, I have in fact a window that 

is approx. 100 cm.÷ x 50 cm (a pane for a door) but I can adjust

the width with a frame or rim so that it 

fits – if ^{only if} the cut-off glass section is not significantly

less than half a metre in width, – the length would then

be cut off at barely a metre in length (as mentioned above)

the other section of the cut-off length I 

could also probably find use for. Therefore

I must have a reflecting glass pane 192 cm. x 100 cm. 

4

You probably think, that one should not be so extravagant, when

one is a miserable indebted penniless devil. The price 

kr. 120 for a reflecting glass pane 150 x 100 I also thought

was cheap, but then I think kr. 30 for a pane of common

double glass 40 x 100 was expensive – the entire pane 

window containing both panes should then amount to

kr. 150, – – in that case I would rather add kr. 100, if

I might get a whole reflecting glass pane for that price. 

But perhaps I misunderstood your letter, and

a whole reflecting pane measuring 1 m. 

times 192 cm. that would cost 120.00, while for a 

common double glass one could have both panes ^{150 + 40} 

for a total of kr. 30. – In that case it is extreme-

ly cheap, – and in that case I must ask your 

forgiveness for my having stated, that I “did not see

anything regarding the price of the large reflective glass pane”. 

Regarding the skylights I am in agreement with you and

Fritjof Andersen that wired glass is perhaps the safest

alternative, but then the panes can perhaps be 1 m square

that is 100 x 100 cm. – as I would thus save on a few 

cross muntins, which are always difficult to seal

For now I will only take 3 such panes, and since I

5

am not totally convinced, that it will be possible

to to get the roof to be completely waterproof – in case snow

rests on the <panes>, and it possibly became warm

inside so that the snow melted ^{so that it froze at night}, – I have thought

of using double panes in the roof, and since

there will not be any wear and tear on the inner ^underlying panes, these

could either be of ordinary double glass or of

forged glass (hammered glass), – I don’t know which

is cheapest, – I will of course take the cheapest one. 

It amounts to 6 panes measuring 100 cm. x 100 cm.

3 of which are wired glass. – If Mr. Andersen finds it

cheaper to choose a different length than 100 cm., it 

can be done – the entire length of the skylight will then

be approx. 3 metres, and that can easily be just 2 panes – 

measuring 150 cm. each, – but 100 cm. x 100 cm. would

suit me best. Then I must also have some 

additional panes of ordinary double glass, – but 

some of these I will give instructions about later. 

We used “the studio” as a bedroom now during the Christ-

ening, and everyone was enthusiastic about the handsome room; 

with windows and all the rest (the Japanese doors, etc.)

it will be even better, – but “God help me”, 

where will the money come from to pay for everything. 

6

You mention, that I should send “the still life” to Dr. Kreyberg,

but I don’t think he will like it in its present

state, – I consider it only as <a> purely art-

istic study exercise of shapes and colours in free association to

each other, – so that Eie’s objection to the perspective

is more or less justified. I received a flattering letter

from Kreyberg about the painter Mohr’s remarks about my

things – I received a similar letter from H. Sörensen with remarks by Mr. Mohr, – so

I must have quite unexpectedly gained an admirer

in the painter Mohr. Regarding “the still life”, I must

in that case paint it over again for Kreyberg, – I

plan to remove both the cup and the plate in

the foreground or at least change their positions

and forms, – if only I had some very green

and very red apples, I would use them

instead. The picture for Neymann stands there in

shame these days, – somewhat improved since the last time you saw it, – it has

nevertheless become. – Engel sends her greetings. Kristian is ill 

with bronchitis. You don’t remember by any chance, where that chisel

ended up, which you removed tacks with at Myklebùst (the little “crowbar”)

You are probably reluctant to demand [payment] from Mrs. Breyholtz – I am owed

250 kr. for Midsummer Eve Bonfire – I should have received it in August? 

Well you must forgive me for bothering you. With very best 

wishes to all of you your 

N. Astrup

Dear friend!

When I was going down to the mailbox with a letter for 

you, a letter from you lay there, and I shall now in haste 

reply to some of it. – Most of it you know now from

the other letter, which I will enclose with this one – 

such as the “child’s name”, etc. – the work begun on your

foundation, etc. – I shall take a walk out there and

inspect the work and give you a report from time

to time; – next Monday the dismantling 

will begin at Myklebùst. – Yes I will “re-

direct” whatever might be delivered to you, – and

have the chauffer pay attention; – yes it is in fact in my name

it is sent, – as long as we don’t mistake it with the Zinc, 

so that I use it on my roof, – but it will 

be another width presumably – I wrote on

the list of glass 70–80 cm wide, but 150 can also

be suitable, and then I won’t need more than 4.25 cm. in length

It’s perhaps easier for you than for Didr. Andersen 

to get hold of Zinc. Who do you think, I can 

get the cheapest price for lead sheets? – I am thinking of making

a bathtub out of wood and lining it with lead, – I would

prefer to make 2 tubs, – one for warm and one for 

cold, but I will not be able to afford it right away.

Perhaps Jacob Neymann has lead (“flat lead” it’s called here)

And then you must convey my sincerest 

congratulations to Aagot on the occasion of her acceptance 

to “the state exhibition”! – My mother and brother left for the north

yesterday; – now I will even be able to finish

“Foxgloves” for Kreyberg, – it is slow-going

work – and I am tormented by a cold and asthma, – 

but have not yet had a the kind of seizures I had before

the Africa trip, – but they are sure to come, – with

the help of a cold and warm bath I can perhaps subdue

them a little. Can you find out the price per sketch:square m. 

of lead? Zinc might perhaps work but it develops

holes too quickly. –––

We are surviving despite the lack of money, but have nevertheless  

had an accident with a cow, which we rented (since it was too 

expensive to buy a cow), – it will not “drop” (get rid of the afterbirth)

and thus does not produce more than half the amount of milk that it should. 

Well live well and say hello to Kreyberg – I should have written – but 

write so poorly lately. Best wishes from all of

us here – Your Astrup