Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) - photo 1
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) - photo 2
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) - photo 3
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) - photo 4

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Lot 236
15.12.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
£ 100
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1109036
Lot 236 | Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Estimate value
£ 7 000 – 10 000
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Autograph letter signed (‘Gustav’) to [Alma Schindler: ‘Liebste!’], n.p. [Vienna], n.d. [9 December 1901]
In German. Four pages, 100 x 126mm, on two notecards embossed ‘Der Director des K.K. Hof-Operntheaters’ (cancelled in pencil), the date added in pencil in another hand. Provenance: Sotheby’s New York, 22 May 1985, lot 338.

‘From now on, wherever you are is my abiding city’: a love letter from his whirlwind courtship with Alma, as Mahler leaves for Berlin immediately after their secret engagement. Mahler is about to leave and begs for a few lines sent to the Palast Hotel: ‘For a few moments they would make me feel at home in that unfamiliar place […] even the faintest reminder of your dear presence helps me forget for a while the pain of separation’. He asks for her opinion of The Magic Flute: ‘I can imagine that such a work will not yet have become clear to you, for it is all too much a piece of yourself. For a long time I had similar experiences with those works which you describe as "naïve". But I value and revere everything you can tell me about yourself, even the merest trifle’, entreating her to tell him everything of her life, but to write clearly. On Wednesday, Alma will meet Mahler’s sister – here, he breaks off to read a recently-arrived letter from his beloved, continuing with the joyful confession that his sister ‘is completely in the picture and has already taken you into her heart. Yesterday we talked until far into the night about you and our future […] She understands everything and will be a true friend’. He is very unhappy that he must go away again ‘and yet it’s almost like a call from the Master, from the Teacher (I put it like that to avoid saying ‘God’, because we haven’t yet touched on that topic)’. He can write no more: ‘I hear nothing but this one voice, stronger than all else. May it never fall silent – in my heart. A voice that knows but one word and one note: I love you, my Alma!’.

Alma’s diary entry for 9 December tells of a similar infatuation: ‘I simply can’t work – I pace around the room, go over to his picture, re-read his last letter – I love him! […] I believe I shall become a better person, he purifies me’. Mahler and Alma Schindler began their affair in November 1909, while Alma was still in a relationship with her composition tutor, Alexander Zemlinsky. By 8 December, just one day before the present letter was written, they were secretly engaged; however, it was not until 12 December that she wrote to Zemlinsky to inform him of her engagement. The engagement was formally announced on 23 December and the two were married on 9 March 1902.

Published: La Grange et al (eds.), Letters to his Wife (2004), no 7.
Artist:Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911)
Place of origin:Austria
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
09.12.2023 12:00 – 17:00
10.12.2023 12:00 – 17:00
11.12.2023 09:00 – 20:00
12.12.2023 09:00 – 17:00
13.12.2023 09:00 – 17:00
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

More from Creator

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
£100
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
£100
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
£100
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
£100
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
£100
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
£100

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.