Henry Miller (1891-1980) - photo 1
Henry Miller (1891-1980) - photo 2

Henry Miller (1891-1980)

Lot 137
15.12.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 882
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1108936
Lot 137 | Henry Miller (1891-1980)
Estimate value
£ 1 500 – 2 000
Henry Miller (1891-1980)
Twelve letters signed (‘Henry Miller’ or ‘Henry V. Miller’), to Madeline Boyd and Clara Urquhart, Paris and Big Sur, 12 December 1931 to 11 September 1950
21 pages in total, various sizes, handwritten with the exception of one typed, some on illustrated paper, with two carbon copies of Boyd’s replies. Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 6 May 1981, lot 79, and Sotheby's, 17 December 1981, lot 246.

‘My stuff is too frank, too obscene perhaps’: Letters concerning his reception in America, thoughts on current world problems in the aftermath of the war, and his present life and work. Miller responds to a questionnaire he had been asked to complete by Boyd, his literary agent: ‘Frankly…I do not think it lies within the province of writers or thinkers to bring about immediate and drastic changes, of the sort one wants, by fresh examination of problems. Fundamentally, all these questions have been answered ages ago – by men of wisdom, by prophets, by great religious teachers’. He continues: ‘Is not the solution the very obvious and the very simple one which we are constantly evading, all of us? The simple and yet most difficult matter of squaring action with belief?’. He affirms his thinking that to live in peace, individuals must realise that they alone are responsible for their fate: ‘In short…men are moved more by example than by discussion. Jesus did not write a line’. Complaining also of debt, he expresses a desire to find a collector who will take his paintings, and asks Boyd to find him books on Gilles de Rais and Saladin.

To Urquhart, Miller writes asking for her to return some works of his that she has been trying to sell in New York. Writing ‘a little under the influence of Pernod’, he discusses his reception in America alongside his future hopes. Concerning his new book Tropic of Cancer, he praises the freedom he has found in Europe: ‘I have discovered a medium in which to express myself sincerely and it doesn’t matter to me at all if I have only a limited audience. I have started a book which will require volumes to complete and in it I am myself – and nothing but. You can understand, therefore, how happy I am, and how little it matters that America refused me…I have put everything into my book – and it is rich. It is somewhere between Rabelais and Dostoievski’.
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

MILLER, Henry (1891-1981) et BRASSAÏ (1899-1984)
MILLER, Henry (1891-1981) et BRASSAÏ (1899-1984)
€100
Henry Miller (1891-1980)
Henry Miller (1891-1980)
£100
Miller,H.
Miller,H.
€240
Henry Miller (1891-1980)
Henry Miller (1891-1980)
£100
Miller, H.
Miller, H.
€240

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.
?>