GAUGUIN PAUL: (1848-1903) French Post-Impressionist artist. A very fine A.L.S., P Gauguin, two pages, 8vo, Lutece ...

GAUGUIN PAUL: (1848-1903) French Post-Impressionist artist. A very fine A.L.S., P Gauguin, two pages, 8vo, Lutece (Lutetia, i.e. Paris), 20 Fructidor an 91 (7th September 1883), to his wife, Mette-Sophie Gad ('Chere Madame'), in French. Gauguin writes an affectionate love letter on his wife's birthday, at a time when the artist's marriage was strained and his wife expecting their fifth child, 'Il est important que vous sachiez si le 7 septembre est un jour de fête; peut-être l'avez-vous oublié, vos amis se souviennent et vous félicitent. Vous regardez d'un oeil humide les feuilles tomber sur la terre vous pensez au printemps passé, songez que tout s'en va mais que tout renaît. Vos enfants sont les jeunes pousses qu'un rayon de soleil ranime et fortifie, vous avez une année de moins mais un enfant de plus. Si la vie a quelquefois ses revers à côté de ce grognon de Paul en revanche le bonheur est là où on aime; chez l'époux il y a la sévérité, interrogez son coeur il vous répondra (I elske) [ j'aime, en danois]. Je le connais votre chenapan de mari, il n'ose vous dire aujourd'hui que le 17 Sept. lui rappelle une heureuse naissance; c'est un sceptique d'apparence mais n'en croyez rien je vous réponds de lui. Il me charge de vous l'écrire en peu de mots, la meilleure éloquence c'est la vérité et j'espère chère madame que vous avez confiance dans ma sincérité' (Translation: 'It is important that you know if 7th September is a day of celebration; maybe you forgot it, your friends remember and congratulate you. You watch with a tearful eye the leaves falling on the earth, you think of the past spring, think that everything is going away but that everything is reborn. Your children are young shoots that a ray of sunshine revives and strengthens, you are one year younger but a child older. If life sometimes has its setbacks next to that grumpy Paul, on the other hand happiness is where one loves; in the husband there is severity, ask his heart he will answer you (I elske) ('I love you' in Danish) I know your rascal of a husband, he doesn't dare tell you today that the 17th September reminds him of a happy birth; he looks like a sceptic, but don't believe it, I can vouch for him. He asks me to write it to you in a few words, the best eloquence is the truth and I hope, dear Madame, that you have confidence in my sincerity'). With blank integral leaf. A remarkable and extremely rare letter. Some very light, extremely minor staining and age wear, VG Mette-Sophie Gad (1850-1920) Danis translator, wife of Paul Gauguin from 1873-94. Gad gave birth to their fifth child, Paul Rollon Gauguin (known as Pola), three months after the present letter, on 6th December 1883. Pola Gauguin was to have little interaction with his father, and no direct content after 1890. At the time of the present letter relations between Gauguin and his wife were particularly tense. They had met in 1872 when Gauguin was working as a stockbroker and earning a very considerable amount of money, however in 1882 the Paris stock market crashed, and Gauguin's income deteriorated sharply. He announced to Mette that he was going to pursue painting full-time, although the family quickly fell into poverty which led to them taking refuge in Denmark with Mette's parents. The mention of 17th September in the present letter remains something of a mystery, although clearly had a certain significance between Gauguin and his wife. Could it be a reference to their first romantic encounter? The Institut national d'histoire de l'art (INHA) hold some eighty letters by Gauguin, although the earliest to Mette dates from May 1885. The tone of the present letter, in which Gauguin speaks of himself in the third person, is unusual, and as public collections do not contain any letters to Mette from a similar period, it is difficult to establish whether the artist frequently adopted this falsely light and playful tone, most likely adopted to charm his wife and seek 'forgiveness' on her birthday. It is tempting to feel here the presence, or at least the positive bonhomie influence, of Gauguin's best friend and intimate adviser, Emile Shuffenecker, under whose dictation it may have been written.