Letter from Egon Schiele to Margarete Partonek
Leopold Museum, Vienna
ESDA ID
1891
Nebehay 1979
Nicht gelistet/Not listed
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 5364
Date
March 1906 (inferred from content)
Material/technique
Black ink, watercolor on paper
Dimensions
17,2 x 11 cm (page)
Transcription
[Translation:]
DEAREST MISS…
My new “across” spoils my entire outlook. Earlier I could at least see you behind a green hiding place, but now the roof at the window is too short.
Why do you no longer write, as you did a few weeks ago? If such things are not yet known to anyone but those close to us, I think no one, least of all in your school, will find out about it, provided that you yourself do not say or read anything to your friends & colleagues. You have only sent me three letters through your brother, [1] which are in good hands with me, while I have already sent you several. Maybe you really could not write for reasons that you do not want to say, so
||
there is a second, which, in your place, I would not look to excuse. You often walk in the evening in the lane with Miss Hermine, [2] couldn’t you at least choose to take a different lane? It depends only on your will, which you can easily master; you would then fulfill the words you so clearly wrote to me. How often do you go to the Upper Town, such as on Monday; you could use the aforementioned path then on your way to and from.
If I have written something unpleasant now, I beg your pardon, because from many you will see that I write as I think. If you won’t grant me forgiveness, I ask you to return it. I hope that you will choose from my advice, so that the most beautiful month shall not pass without making the most of it.
You are away every Sunday, on the 22nd you were in Hadersfeld; where were you last Sunday? You wouldn’t go on outings for no reason.
Sending you hearty greetings, ES
DEAREST MISS…
My new “across” spoils my entire outlook. Earlier I could at least see you behind a green hiding place, but now the roof at the window is too short.
Why do you no longer write, as you did a few weeks ago? If such things are not yet known to anyone but those close to us, I think no one, least of all in your school, will find out about it, provided that you yourself do not say or read anything to your friends & colleagues. You have only sent me three letters through your brother, [1] which are in good hands with me, while I have already sent you several. Maybe you really could not write for reasons that you do not want to say, so
||
there is a second, which, in your place, I would not look to excuse. You often walk in the evening in the lane with Miss Hermine, [2] couldn’t you at least choose to take a different lane? It depends only on your will, which you can easily master; you would then fulfill the words you so clearly wrote to me. How often do you go to the Upper Town, such as on Monday; you could use the aforementioned path then on your way to and from.
If I have written something unpleasant now, I beg your pardon, because from many you will see that I write as I think. If you won’t grant me forgiveness, I ask you to return it. I hope that you will choose from my advice, so that the most beautiful month shall not pass without making the most of it.
You are away every Sunday, on the 22nd you were in Hadersfeld; where were you last Sunday? You wouldn’t go on outings for no reason.
Sending you hearty greetings, ES
Annotations
[1] Not identified.
[2] Hermine B.: from the circle of friends in Klosterneuburg.
[2] Hermine B.: from the circle of friends in Klosterneuburg.
Provenance
Gretel Partonek, Neu-Ofen
Familie Partonek, Salnau
1959: Dorotheum, Wien, Aukt. 12.02.1959, Lot 318
2007: Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (Ankauf Galerie Hassfurther, Wien, Aukt. 29.11.2007, Kat. 24, S. 46-47)
Familie Partonek, Salnau
1959: Dorotheum, Wien, Aukt. 12.02.1959, Lot 318
2007: Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (Ankauf Galerie Hassfurther, Wien, Aukt. 29.11.2007, Kat. 24, S. 46-47)
Owner
Author
Signee
Recipient
Image credit
Leopold Museum, Vienna
PURL: https://www.egonschiele.at/1891