Rainer Maria Rilke (Prague 1875-1926 Valmont Sanatorium, near Montreux, Switzerland)
Letter to Oskar Zwintscher from Worpswede
four-page autograph letter
ink on paper, written on a folded sheet
8vo (3 x 4 inches)
signed
dated 15 January 1902
ink note at upper right of first page in unknown hand: Nr. 3
short closed separations at folds
The Daulton Collection
Discussion:
INVITING THE PAINTER TO VISIT: "I TELL YOU FROM MY HEART, COME!"
Autograph Letter Signed, to painter Oskar Zwintscher ("My dear Mr Zwintscher"), in German, inviting him to spend the winter at the vacant house of a neighbor, with small ink drawing. The letter, renewing an earlier invitation to visit, offering a small furnished house and nearby artist's studio. The drawing, a diagram showing the floor plan of the house and adjacent street names, at lower edge of second page.
"In a small house . . . three rooms, well appointed by Heinrich Vogeler, are continuously at your and your wife's [Adele's] disposal if you . . . still think about coming here. . . .
"Upstairs is a large room that was once an artist's studio . . . . I will try to draw it as well as I can. Thus: [drawing]
". . . [I]f the dining room appears too dark for you to use as a studio . . . . [y]ou would then have to use a studio outside the house, about 10 minutes away, in Worpswede, which we would provide to you at no cost, just like the house.
". . . I can hardly tell you how happy all of us would be if you both would move into this little house and be our neighbors for a while. Worpswede is so grey and deserted now with its snowed-over loneliness; its wintry deep silence would certainly be good for you.
". . . I tell you from my heart, come! . . ."
