Scripto | Transcribe Page

3

concluded. The owner is a good natured rather rustic country gentleman with the obstinate suspicions of a peasant type quite unused to business and extremely difficult to deal with, especially as he only spoke bad French. His chief anxiety was on the score of the risk he ran in agreeing to my fixed conditions that I must see the picture & approve its state before purchase. He wanted me to pay him £6000 DOWN?? as earnest money. This I absolutely refused on the ground that I had no right to do so before seeing the picture, so finally we compromised as the plan that the money shd. SHOULD be deposited in our joint names in the Vienna Bank, to be handed over by me in exchange for the picture in his chateau. This gives him the opportunity, if DELETED TEXT he /DELETED TEXT I shd. decline the picture on the score of bad condition OF?? disputing my judgment as capricious.

I may say that I only agreed to this because I have seen a letter from ?? on the subject of its condition. He saw it when Hauser cleaned it at the time of the Amsterdam Exhibition and speaks there & in his book of its good condition. He also calls the picture 'Hors ligne' and comparable among Rembrandts' SIC

PAGE 3/6