ALS in French, signed “P. G.,” two pages on two adjoining sheets, 4 x 6, no date but circa 1889. Handwritten letter to painter, art teacher, and collector Emile Schuffenecker, in part (translated): "2 words in a hurry…. I have, it is true, more than need of money at the moment, but I have credit. I cannot accept the press, feeling obliged with a knife at my throat, it would be a deplorable example! Besides that, I can't make a deal without talking to Van Gogh, who keeps the prices higher." He discusses the difficulty of making profitable deals in the present art market ("I therefore write to him for a deal of (200 Francs less commission less frame is equal to almost zero) he will have to deal that with him") and mentions that he cannot fulfill a request as he does not have 40 francs ("What a nightmare to be held back by trifles every time it comes to work"). In fine condition.
A painter, art teacher, and collector—most notably one of Van Gogh’s earliest collectors—Emile Schuffenecker was one of Gauguin’s closest friends, and an outspoken supporter of his artistic career. He was also responsible for proposing the important 1889 exhibition at the Volpini Gallery, which became a key moment in Gauguin’s career, expanding his influence on young painters. In late 1887 or early 1888, Gauguin traded his canvas 'On the Shore of the Lake, Martinique' to Vincent Van Gogh in exchange for two small paintings of sunflowers that the great Dutchman had completed the previous summer. Gauguin hung them above his bed when he lived in Paris on Rue Boulard with Emile Schuffenecker, and they remained there during his voyages in the South Seas. Desperate for money by 1896, Gauguin decided to finally part with these prized possessions; they were ultimately purchased by the art dealer Ambroise Vollard for 225 francs a piece. Today, one of the canvases resides in the collection of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. A rare and significant association piece connecting several important artistic figures of the Post-Impressionist movement.
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