Winslow Homer 1907 Autograph Letter Signed...

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Winslow Homer 1907 Autograph Letter Signed "Winslow Homer," four pages, 5" x 7.75". Scarboro, Maine, January 22, 1907. To Mr. William Clausen. In full: "Please send me the bill for the frame 24 x 28. I shall send the picture for it soon. I will leave it with you for a month. As I am in love with it and have been for thirty years I put a price on it so that it will not be sold at present. I know all the faults in it, but they are useful to the whole thing & I leave them untouched. If you will place some article of furniture in front of this in your Gallery or hang it up high to keep people from smelling of it - and at their proper distance. Three times its width. I should say that would be a good hint to them & something they should know. [drawing -- see note below] This must net me $2400.00 as I now can afford to have it hanging in my own house. You see I care how old I am - the amount of money I have in my pocket & the limits of old age. The years & money are all right but pictures are scarce." At the lower margin of the third page, Homer has drawn a sketch of a gallery wall with rails in front of it to illustrate how his painting should be displayed.

The painting was likely Shall I Tell Your Fortune, picturing an early love, which corresponds to the date and size mentioned. Homer is best known for his paintings of American landscapes and seascapes, that show considerable originality and reflect the American pioneering spirit. Clausen was the owner of an art gallery. Letters by the artist discussing his work are rarely encountered. Dampstained at margins of edges, bordering the once mid-vertical fold, which has separated. Twenty-six words of text (most at the ends of lines) are affected. Shaded upper edge. Tip of left corner of page three is missing. Paper clip rust stain at upper left edge touches all pages.

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