1912-10-16

Oct - 16 1912
I have received your letter of october the ⁴ fourth -
No, I have not changed the price of the Greco picture. You must remember that I, the evening you where here, told you, the prize was 200.000 frcs - but you said to me that you would try to get 200.000 crowns -
I know very well the prizes for Greco, I have inquired specially on this matter – a friend of mine in Paris has a Greco picture for which he is offered 400,000 frcs, but he will not sell it. On the contrary I have seen a Greco picture in the commerce in Paris too, which was to be sold for 25,000 frcs – as you see the prices are very variable.
I know the Metropolitan picture in New York exceedingly well. It does exist in four replications (Valencia, Bukarest, Toledo, New York.)
Mine is absolutely a unique!   on that account is the prize not too big, and I will not lower this prize these first coming years.*⁾ Enclosed you will

find copies of letters from Beruete (Cossio) and another with the declarations from Mr Gronaw the Director for the Cassel Museum.
The picture has not yet been sent to New York -
The price I do charge for the Goya is not at all different from the prize I mentioned, when you did visit me, the fact is, I did not mention any at all
Pershaps $ 3000 is a little high, I will reduce it to 2000 $. It is a very caracteristic little head, and it is signed with his name. Your commission will be what you can get more than these prizes that I want for the pictures
Sincerely yours
_XI have last year here in Europe been offered 100 000 frcs. from a commissioner, but I refuse it.

I have very carefully studiet the photograph of your picture "Adoration of the shepherds".
In spite of one cannot pronounce an exactly opionion of seeing a photograph and not the picture I do not make a mistake by telling you that I am in accordance with the declaration of Mr Johansen, that it is a work from the youth of Greco
The rapports with this picture and those in the museum in Parma, (the healing of the blind born) the other picture of Greco of the same subject in the museum of Dresden, a small Greco (Sct Francisco) in possesion of Mr Zuloaga and at last the adoration of the Magi in the museum of Wien, which formerly was attributed to Bassano, all from the painters youth. These does proof sufficiently my reason for having this opinion.

I have also consulted Mr Cossio who had received from you a photograph and a letter like mine and he has been in accordance with me in front of those four pictures -
I keep your photograph together with the many photographs of Greco I already have.
About the value of the picture I cannot give you any Idea
It changes every day-, and besides the pictures from the master's youth are not often in the trade (ne sont pas souvent café)
Agree sir
Yours very truly -
Signed
A de Beruete
Translated from french.

The national Art Museum       21-9-12
The collection of plaster-casts
P. Johansen
Professor in Art History and librarian in the Royal Academy. Copenhagen

My dear Mr P. Johansen
On your demand I have yesterday again studied the picture "The adoration of the shepherds", as Mr Willumsen has bought in Florence and as he consider to be a work of Greco. I must confess that I am quite of his opinion. The old man and the small Jesus child one does find in others of Greco's pictures as Mr Willumsen showed too in the photographs. The Virgin   not a very grand figure   is evidently el Grecos woman ideal, the same ^{the type} one finds allmost without difference through all his later pictures. Not considering this only - the picture shows the remarkable strange colouring. It is a strange refined painter, who has given the transparant red colours, that has an effect like enamel, and as to the left has thrown in the sulphurlike yellow lights and has put together the colours

in such tremendous strange effects.
The colours in this tempera picture sparkels and shines as it was exsecuted in enamel.
So peculiar is the harmony's of the picture, that I can think of no other painter than el Greco as the master of it.
Mr Willumsen showed me that the painter had used the shining carmin in the deepest shadows and as Mr W., who several times has been in Spain, urged, that El Greco was the only painter, he knows of who showed this pecularity.
I too have been in Spain and studied El Greco in Madrid Toledo and Sevilla
In spite of that I dare not put my own opinion down as definitive. I have not had oportunity enough to make my study of el Greco thoroughly .
But of much more

consequence is it, that Dr Georg Gronau, on the demand of Mr Mario Krohn and me, yesterday examined the picture of Mr W house openly declared that "after his conviction the picture was a work of El Greco" and he was only in doubt what period in the production of Greco it ought to be placed
Dr Gronau has kindly permitted me to use his declaration
Your very truly
Signed:
Francis Beckett.
Dr. phil.
Professor in Arthistory at the University of Copenhagen
Translated from Danish