DLA016-0093  Transcription

WOLMER WOOD,

MARLOW COMMON,

MARLOW, BUCKS.  

Aug. 31st 1926.

My dear friend

I was very glad to get your post card yesterday and to hear you had arrived safely in Venice. I hope you will have fine weather while you are there as you will want it both for your work and your holiday making – we are having a real spell of summer here now, sunny and fairly hot but not too hot to be pleasant, so I hope it will last on for a bit. A fine September is one of the best months for out of door work as the colour and the atmospheric effects are much better than in July and August; the middle of the summer is not as a rule a good time for landscape painting as the trees have too much foliage then and everything looks too green. This will not trouble you, however,

[Page 2]

in Venice as I imagine, from my purely secondhand knowledge of the city, the trees there are rather the exception than the rule. I shall look forward to seeing the studies you do there as I am sure you will find a lot of good stuff that will appeal to you.^[1] But, all the same, I hope you do not intend to work too hard – I think you said something about taking this trip for the sake of a rest and if you try to get in too much work I cannot see where the rest will come in. As there will be the usual crowd of would-be sitters waiting on your doorstep when you come home again you must reserve some of your energy to deal with them and not overdo things in Venice. I cannot quite picture you idling about in a gondola – I really would like to be there to see what you looked like, as it would be a new aspect of you – but perhaps the place will have a

[Page 3]

soothing effect and induce you to idle occasionally.^[2] Of course, I should love to be there with you but I have never wanted to go to Venice simply as a sightseer; I always had the idea that if I ever went there I should want to stay for a couple of years at least, and get soaked with the atmosphere of the place. Sightseeing never has appealed to me and I hate going anywhere as merely one in a crowd of trippers; that is one of the reasons why I have stayed at home so much – I have not often had the time available to linger in places I want to see and I did not want to see them if I could not linger long enough to appreciate them properly.

It strikes me that this is a very rambling and dull letter and that you will hardly think it worth reading; as a matter of fact I have no news. Since I saw you last, a week ago, I have been at

[Page 4]

home doing nothing in particular, or at all events nothing out of the ordinary run – some work, some tennis and a few odd jobs in the garden.

I am looking forward to a letter from you telling me what you feel about Venice and whether your impressions of it have changed during the twenty years that have passed since you saw it last.

Our affectionate greetings to you all and best wishes for a most pleasant time | Always yours

A.L. Baldry.

Editorial Note:

Alfred Lys Baldry (1858-1939), British artist and art critic who authored several articles on de László and who was a close family friend; for biographical notes, see [3562].

SMDL

20/12/2017