MM T 2785. Sketchbook
Sketchbook containing literary drafts, letter drafts and lists of artworks.
Sketchbook containing literary drafts, letter drafts and lists of artworks.
Friedrichbergs [Street No.] 27
4320
Goldstein
H 184
Vesterbro Street [No.] 2
Goldstein
The Child’s – The Harlot’s –
The Lady of the Court’s –
The Mephisto smile – The Smile
of well-being – Mona Lisa’s
‹Ninny› Sørensen
Tømrergade [No.] 2 II Sal
I wished to see a Bull
slaughtered – and make the most of
the Event –
The Butcher and I go
into the Cowshed –
– The butcher bends
over a handsome well-nourished
Bull – fed for Slaughter –
He reaches his arm around its
Neck and says “Chere” –
– Unties it and leads [it]
down a
Passageway to a Room
– the Slaughtering room –
It is then led
Head first halfway
through the Door so that
the rear part of the Body remains
in the Slaughtering room and
the Head peers out
of the Door – into the Passageway –
The Butcher threads a
Rope through an Iron Ring
in the Floor – fastens
one end around the Bull’s
Horns and tightens
it – until the Bull
falls to its Knees
and its Head is forced
down to the Floor –
– The two large dark
Eyes peer out at
the Room –
– The Butcher
takes out a long-
handled Hammer
I hear a dull
Blow –
I encounter the
same large Eyes
that continue to stare
out into the Room Blood
seeping out of its Head
– The Butcher takes an
iron rod and
thrusts it into the Hole
in the Head – wrenching it around – there in the bloody mass of Brains
a Death rattle could be heard –
a Clatter of
Hooves – and the Bull
lies on the Ground –
The Butcher picks up a
Dagger – climbs up on-
to the Bull’s Body
and thrusts it in-
to the Animal’s Heart
– a thick stream of Blood
surges out –
The Butcher holds a Glass
up to the red Stream
and then empties the
blood-filled Glass in
Gulps –
The abdomen is slit open
– The Intestines – Entrails
Fat and Tallow
glisten – against
the deep
red and violet-blue
Meat – it drips
Watery Blood
Is it not a
handsome piece of Work the
Butcher asks pointing
to the cleaned
and scraped Inside
of the Carcass where
the Spinal Rings like
–the Trunk of a Tree with
its Branches resembled
a beautifully
executed Work of Art
in Red and white
– What is that
over there by the Spine
something moves
– a little white
thread-like
String –
Back and forth –
in Keeping – rhythmically
with the tempo of the pulse –
– It is only
the twitching of the Nerves said
the Butcher –
– Only the twitching of the Nerves?
– And yet it is Movement
– Life –
Or perhaps it was the
final Attachment of the
Animal’s Soul to this
powerful Creature’s Body –
– The final Farewell
The Professor
The Will already
existed in the
Protoplasm – the aspiration of
The Will is to exercise Power
– It was developed within
a Being –
The Human Being –
The Pores of the Human – can see
feel – move – and hear
and speak
The Pores – The Cells of
the Skin’s physiology – are the Limitations
of the Protoplasm –
In other words – the Human Being’s
Pores can see feel – move
– but the Human Being
wished to see more
so the two Eyes
grew –
he wished to hear
more and the Ears
grew –
To move more
the Feet [grew]
to feel more
the Hands – etc. –
– The urge to
communicate
and the Vocal Chords
developed –
The Vocal Chords what
a strange Contrivance
Ladies and Gentlemen –
– The Voice can be heard –
what Power it has
For one who has no need
for loud Sound –
– Another type
of Power is concealed
in the Frequencies of Sound
that one is not aware
of – here we touch
upon melody
Resonance or whatever
one wishes to call this
strange Power –
– it is one of Sympathies
– or if you wish
of the negative sort – of Antipathies
– in any case
a Rhythmic Influence
– A slight
Frequency of Sound can
when it encounters a
similarly tuned
Sound instrument
evoke Resonance across
a long Distance –
– The Vocal Chords
and the Ear –
this Marconi
device – the Vocal Chords
and the Oral Cavity – the Station
for Dispatching – The Ear
the Receiving Station –
– Aside from these
Sound Waves another
Marconi telegraph
has a simultaneous effect–
– which is not dispatched
to the Receiver merely
to be heard in the Ear –
its purpose is to
cause a Disturbance
to occur at the Receiving Station
– it can create Life
and kill –
Glass – Light
A Gentleman enters
and sits down at a
Table – a Woman stands
stiffly – cold – and pallid behind
him – otherwise
indifferent she utters
one little Word –
immediately the Man
breaks down grabs
a Revolver and shoots himself
She killed the Man
with one little Word.
Yet it was not so much
the Word as the
Sound – that did it
– it was perhaps not even
the Word or the Sound –
– it was the
Frequency of the
nerves of her Vocal Chords – and
due to this Frequency entering at
precisely this
Point in time –
This little
Frequency struck at this
exact instant a little
Nerve centre somewhere
in his Body or
Spine – so that he
broke down –
Like Light he was
made ready
and had
become receptive
by the occurrence
– receptive
to this little
Sound from the Woman – the Enemy
She wanted to take revenge
He came mollified
by Tears Entreaties –
Intercessions by Friends –
– She had
pretended Suicide
in order to get him
to come to her – He had
kept watch the entire Night
by her Bed –
– Then the past
Night he had fallen
asleep safely by her
Breast – hoping
– willing to sacrifice himself
in order to save a
Human Life –
She lay in wait of
the Moment – like
a Wasp in order
to inject her
Sting into the
mollified one – the Human Body
Man Enemy –
who like Light
was made receptive
– And the little
Voice – the little
Word – No – the
little Frequency pierced
directly in – through the
open Flesh – to
a little
Fibre in the Human
Body –
And as if struck
by Lightning he
broke down –
His back caved
in – Contorted
the large masses of
Muscles con-
tracted –
The sinews twisted
and strained and
knotted –
His Head sank to the
Table –
He rocked his
Head – back and
forth –
His arms contorted
with the Movements of the
Muscles and Sinews
– His hands clenched
and grasped the air –
[Reached] Into a Drawer
– He held a
Revolver in his Hand
– He clenched it
with both Hands –
– fumbled with it – clawed at
it – A Shot –
He stands
up looks
around Eyes wide
open
holding his left
Hand to his Chest
– Blood oozes out from
between the Fingers
– He staggers
a Few Steps and
falls back onto the
Bed –
His Eyes seek for one last Second
the Woman
who stands there with the
same piercing
ice-cold Gaze she
wore the entire Evening
looking at him
He is dead
in the Man’s Spine
Since the Card was written
in an overwrought and excitable
State of mind and
created an unintentional
Significance I apologize
herewith sending it
– and of course wish
that it had [not] been delivered
which by the way
was due to a Coincidence
Thought kills
Emotion –
and increases
Sensibility –
Wine kills
Sensibility and
Increases Emotion
(Aphorisms)
Dear Madame – You
believe in Ghosts You
say – I will tell
You a Story –
from Paris –
I had had
an Exhibition –
There at that
Exhibition …
The Heart palpitates in [the presence of]
Peril one becomes Fearful
– A weak Heart
palpitates without Cause
and one experiences a Sense
of Fear and Peril.
Evil Thoughts are
the Seeds of Evil Deeds.
– Crimes are
Thoughts that have become
Deeds
If one
is treated like
a Dog one
becomes a Dog
A bad Stomach
generates bad
Thoughts –
A weak Stomach
assaults the Nervous system
Poor Nerves assault
the Stomach
One is glad for a
Sunny day – but
Sunshine does not
always bring a sense
of Pleasure
feeling, thinking – without
speaking –
Her Blood flows
very slowly in her
Veins –
One can also say that
because her Blood flows
so slowly she is
brought into this state –
The furious one flares up
violently The Eyes stare
insanely the blood surges
to and from the Head –
Words erupt from
the Mouth with incoherent
Intensity – Thoughts
follow one another in a fury of Rage
The Blood is in chaotic
Motion – One can
also say because the Blood flows so …
Hogarth painted
Vice – and the Bohemian
in London – himself a
Bourgeois who died happily
in the Bosom of his Family –
Raphael Painter
of Beauty and Virtue
died of Syphilis –
When the little
Hocus soul – had caused me to
become mutilated and
destroyed – the wealthy
Harlot Soul gained Peace
and Balsam for her
Wounds –
I allowed myself to be tortured
to Death – for 3 Years
before I said to my-
self I shall ride out
the worst of the storm and
– Paris is considered to be
the City of Vice –
– The Vice is at least
civilised – it has
been given a vaccine – and is
not as malignant
Drachmann lies
in his Urn – His
large Stature com-
pressed into a
small Handful of Dust –
We were together a
few Months ago
– an image still remains
in the Eye as on a
Photographic plate
– fresh as though he has
just stepped aside
– In my Ear I can hear
his Voice – as
clearly as if
– the words were just
spoken – like a
Phonograph –
– “Well listen to this
dear Friend” –
The words were round
and mellow –
Everything is fire – and
Movement I said –
– we burn like
Trees and everything,
It is true he said
we are Flames
that shoot out of
the Earth –
We spoke about Courage
– Women –
I wonder whether we have
the Courage to confess
when we have behaved
cowardly I said –
Well now I will tell you
everything – he said
When I have behaved
cowardly – and the
truth about Woman
– I am writing a Book
– And then I shall
drill a hole in the Boat
– the entire Arc will
sink –
Champagne glasses
were filled and emptied –
Yes dear Friend –
We spoke about
the dissolution of the Union and
a possible War with
Sweden –
Lives are more precious
than all Art –
Well well he said
You are Right –
You are indeed a poet
he said after a
Spell
Now I think of
the Day he burst in-
to Flames and caved in
as he himself was
a great unevenly
burning Flame
that now and then
shot up large and tall
– and I thought
of his Words about
drilling a Hole in the Boat
11-4-08
One does not paint
from Nature –
one takes from it
or helps oneself from its
bountiful Platter
While Impressionism is
virtually a display of
dissolving Energy – it seeks
at the same time to
adhere to the style of the Form
I demanded Either or –
– The clear Condition was –
[that it should be] at my place – in my Cottage – or
dream –
It was a question of dazzling
in the light of Day –
As with Obstfelder –
I was to be the Spring-
board – from which she
could leap up to
the Parnassus of Artists
to parade her Star
– For her it was merely
fortunate – that I was sickly
– she thought she would then
have a more willing tamer
Board – one that bounced only
for her –
And the Springboard
would also –
be ready
to receive
her – when she
fell back down from her
Skyward leap –
GH – and one …
like a concentrate
The Dissemination of his Word
caused – Fluctuations
in the Air – Waves –
rings in the Air –
which in the course of
2000 Years have been
dispersed across
the Globe
I made the Observation
that when I walked down
the Street on a Sunny Day
on Karl Johan –
and saw the white Buildings
against the blue Spring
Air – the Files of
People
in Streams that
crossed one another were like
a Ribbon being pulled
along the Facades of the Buildings –
– then the Music
can be heard approaching
playing a March –
– then I see the Colours
are suddenly different
– the Air
quivered – the yellow-
white Facades
quivered – The Colours Danced
in the Stream
of People
– in [the] bright red
and white
Parasols – [the] yellow –
light blue Spring outfits
– against the blue-black
Winter attire
the golden Trumpets
flickered as they
gleamed in the Sun –
– there was a quivering
in blue and red and yellow
–
I saw differently
under the Influence of
the Music –
The Music broke up the Colours
– I felt a sense
of Exhilaration –
One Evening I was walking
along a Hillside road
near Kristiania –
together with two
Friends It
was a Time when Life
had lacerated
my Soul –
The Sun went down – had
ducked in fiery retreat
beneath the Horizon –
– It was as though
a Flaming Sword
of Blood slashed across the
Vault of the Sky
The Air turned to
Blood – with glaring
threads of Fire –
– The Hills turned a
deep blue –
the Fjord – glared in
cold blue – yellow and
red Colours –
A shrill
blood red – on the
Road – and the Railing
– My Friends’
Faces turned a
glaring yellowish white –
– I felt a
great Scream
– and I actually
heard a great
Scream –
The Colours in
Nature – broke up
the Lines in Nature
– the Lines and the Colours
quivered in Motion
– These oscillations of Light
did not cause my Eye
alone to Vibrate
it also caused my Ear
to Vibrate –
so that I actually heard
a Scream –
I then painted
the Picture [entitled] Scream –
Realism – Naturalism
were the solution –
Zola – Maupassant
– Repercussions
of Voltaire [ – ] Rousseau
– Darwin in England –
– Georg Brandes
– Bjørnson –
Alexander Kjelland
and also Ibsen – who
at that time was considered a
Realist
I do not wish to spread
untenable Rumours and will
willingly retract (as the Card was
written in morbid agitation) and
correct that which is not
an established Fact –
– the Word Villainy – is used
to denote a specific Action enacted by –
a certain Man – which suggests and
Nature to the core –
Loyalty to the utmost
– It was not
necessary to choose
Motifs –
I painted preferably
at the Window – the same
Motifs – in Sunshine
Rain – Summer and
Winter –
– A Cluster of
Birch trees –
First draw up
the Mass – then distinguish
and draw each Trunk
– distinguish and draw each
Branch that was
on the Trunk –
– then all the Twigs –
– down to the smallest
that were gathered in
the Masses
– all of the Twigs would be
included – all the small
Marks on the Trunk
– Yet there were still
more –
I laboured and sweated
I declare that the Card
written by me is a Reaction
(an acute Nervous condition) after the
afore-mentioned Events
– Aggravated by a Succession of Assaults
of various Nature –
– In addition to these Assaults
is the threatening article by
Krohg – Hamsun ’s Article
in Which Falsehoods are circulated
A subscription to Das
Werk costs 100 Marks
– In the Shop 300
Marks –
100 Impressions are printed
after which the Stone
and the Woodcut are destroyed
Well I will tell
You a Story –
There was once a Woman
who wished to aggravate her
ex-Fiancé
– She threw herself
into the Water – and shouted
for Help –
but she was a good
swimmer – it was the Poor
Bloke who could not swim mind you
who went in after her and drowned –
– The Girl came out of the water
– and there was her
second Fiancé –
and Arm in Arm
They went to see the Notary Public
Well I’ll be damned
– said the Dane
To enter into a Liaison
because one will not
or cannot marry –
– thereupon to be coerced
into Marriage because the Affair
has been initiated is absurd –
– All the more when it
has come to light that you
are ill-suited for one another –
An unhappy Marriage
is a Curse –
Why enter into one
in advance
The insane thing about the Relationship was this.
– In a free Relationship – one of the Partners
obviously has the Right to say –
I will go to another – if You refuse
to marry – me –
But the insane thing was – she
not only ran off with all the others – in addition
she demanded just as much Right to have me – I [have]
the Right to take my own Life –
– Had we had different
stronger Eyes – we
would – like the X-ray
– only see
our Wicks –
the Skeletal system –
Had we had different Eyes
– we would be able to see
our exterior Casing of
Flames – and we would
have other Forms –
– In other words why
should – other Beings
with lighter – insubstantial Mole-
cules – not exist among us –
The Souls of our dear ones – for Example?
Spirits
As soon as the Relationship
was initiated she considered
me an Object
that belonged to her
– Like the Toy Soldier Christmas
Tree ornament she received
as a young Child –
Her great Sorrow
– her Exasperation –
was aroused when she
saw that this Object
– could actually
walk – had a free
My Dear Ladies Bohemians and Swine
Judge what is it You have done then
Well I will tell you
I have defecated on a Turd
Judge A Hell of a Habit
A Display quite Virtuous
That Conduct was Foul
She could not
cast off
the Toy Soldier
herself – as she did
the many Dolls she
had been given in the past and
immediately discarded –
The Toy Solder had [to be dealt with] –
in another Manner
She dispensed [the contents]
of her Money bag
[among] her paid Helpers
then everyone cries out
Tulla L – is drowning
for Your Sake –
so deeply has she
loved You –
and the Toy Soldier it turns
out did not only have
a Brain and Legs but
a Heart as well – That
she had understood
The Toy Soldier with
a Heart – ran into
the Water – there was
no Tulla L there only
Then why does one hang
Female Poisoners
– or punish a Maid
who has stolen –
They are perhaps better
Human Beings than the
clandestine Criminals
I shall [agree] upon the following amicable
Settlement – Kristian Krohg retracts
In the same Statement the
Falsehoods promulgated about me
in Verdens Gang – and the
Lies that I have assaulted
a great many –
Kristian Krohg’s Article was well polished
and not a matter for the police – my Card
is written in morbid Rage
– A choir of hypocrites – when Bjørnson and
Clavenæs after [submitting] the statement said
behave Morally –
– A paid Piece of Treachery
because a few Years ago I
had refrained from acting the tramp
in relation to an aging worldly
wealthy Old Maid
A Work of Art
comes from the Inner soul
of a Human Being
– Art is the Picture’s
[Form] –
manifested through
Human Nerves –
Eye – Brain and Heart
Art is the Human
craving for Crystallisation
Nature is the infinitely
great realm from which
the picture takes its Nourishment
Nature is not
only that which is visible
to the eye – it is also
the inner Picture of the Soul
– on the Back side of the
Eye –
Impressionism
represents a great Armful
in Nature’s Cauldron
– A new Country in
the Kingdom of Art
If one wishes to depict
To depict
intense Emotions
only through working
Directly from Nature
– or Nature seen
in an intense emotional state
is extremely
Nerve-wracking work –
In a few Hours to
absorb the relatively
indifferent Nature
in oneself – then in these
Few Hours to allow it
to be revealed filtered
through the chambers
of the Eye – the Brain
the Nerves –
the Heart –
glowing in the
… of Passion –
the Soul’s Inferno
– is extremely taxing
on the Nervous system
(F[or example] Van Gogh … )
(in part myself
[I do not paint what
I see but what I
saw (Was a phrase uttered
by me around 1890 – and now in
1925 noted down here)]
Bjørn Bjørnson included
the poorer aspects of German
Acting –
the … bellowing
– This was combined
with Some ponderous
Gentlemen’s Art of Loafing
One became famous
to be sure
The realistic
art of loafing …
with a Drøbak bohemian
clique’s Jargon
Produced the Norwegian
Krohg ’s Art of Loafing – and Bread [and butter] Painting