Beckett, Samuel

In June 1956 Avigdor Arikha first met Beckett backstage at the Théâtre Hébertot, after a performance of Waiting for Godot, although it was only after leaving the theatre that he found out to whom he had been talking. A few days later they met again at the house of the poet Alain Bosquet, drank half a bottle of whisky together and continued talking until eight the next morning (having foregone an after-dinner trip to The Crazy Horse Saloon nightclub with Bosquet and his other friends). This was a foretaste of many long, learned, drink-fuelled lunches and evenings to come: throughout this series of letters are references to meetings at La Coupole, Les Iles Marquises, La Closerie des Lilas, Brasserie Zeyer, etc. "...They drank up and down the Boulevard Montparnasse, Avigdor and Sam...chummily bobbing along in full fettle...No quantity of alcohol, however extravagant, seemed to affect their memory, either for historic dates or for poetry, and the two had gone on in this way since their first conversation in 1956, when Avigdor was twenty-seven years old and Sam fifty..." Despite their difference in age, and the five years it took for them to use the 'tu' form of address (evident in these letters), their affinity with eath other was immediate. "...What made them instant friends, I suspect, was not only their love for German literature, but their shared thirst for knowledge in general, their passion for and, at the same time, wariness of erudition; erudition was their temptation...and both knew it sometimes was come by at the expense of innocence..." (Anne Atik, How It Was: A Memoir of Samuel Beckett, 2001, pp.3-4 & 15).



The first letter in this series (4 September 1956) alludes to a recent visit by Arikha to Beckett's country retreat in Ussy, where he was shown an untitled "petite pièce": an early version, in fact, of Endgame (Fin de Partie): "...Je suis très touché que la petite pièce vous accompagne ainsi. Le problème du titre me tracasse toujours. J'ai l'impression qu'il faut éviter le mot 'Fin'...". A few months later Beckett visited Arikha's studio, and having announced that he had added a monologue, began to recite it from memory ("On ma dit l'amitié, c'est ça, l'amitié..."). Arikha was to recall this moment as "one of the greatest spiritual, aesthetic discoveries" in his life (Atik, p.41). Such was his intimacy with the play that in 1984 he was commissioned to design the set and costumes for the New York production directed by Alvin Epstein for the Samuel Beckett Theater and then the Cherry Lane Theater.



The developing friendship between Arikha and Beckett was to be a continual source of inspiration for the artist. His portraits of Beckett, who was always cooperative yet unselfconscious, were done from life, in everday situations such as listening to music, smoking, or "with a glass of wine". A selection of these portraits, which also traces the stylistic changes in Arikha's art over two decades, was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum from February to May 1976, as a tribute to Beckett on his 70th birthday. Some of the portraits are reproduced by Duncan Thomson in Arikha (London, 1994). Arikha also produced drawings and prints (or "adumbrations") for several of Beckett's texts, such as Stories and Texts for Nothing, The Unnamable, Waiting for Godot, Molloy, Malone Dies and Happy Days.



It is evident from this series that Beckett was an admirer and champion of Arikha's work, would often visit his studio, and help him make contact with dealers, often through his friendship with other painters: "...[17 April 1958:] J'ai beaucoup parlé de vous hier à Bram van Velde et à Jacques Putman. Comme vous cherchez une galerie j'ai pensé que celle de Warren ferait peut-être l'affaire...Je ne sais vraiment pas si ça collera avex eux, j'ai plutôt l'impression que non. Mais je peux me tromper. A vous de décider". In 1982, Beckett supported Arikha's nomination for the MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellow Award, stating: "...I have known Avigdor Arikha for over twenty-five years and followed with unflagging interest his work during all that time, particularly his break with abstraction in 1965...and his rediscovery of painting in 1973...I have not ceased to admire, throughout this development, his acuity of vision, sureness of execution and incomparable grasp of the past and of the problems that beset continuance...."



Beckett and Arikha shared an extremely well-informed and sensitive appreciation of art. It was at Arikha's instigation that Beckett visited the cathedral of La Valletta in Malta to see Caravaggio's The Beheading of St John the Baptist, the composition of which inspired the staging of Not I. In several letters Beckett mentions, for example, listening to [Jean-Jacques?] Mayoux talking about a Constable painting for two hours; a visit to the Museum of Modern Art in New York ("formidable collection"); the forthcoming publication of Séjour with artwork by Jean Deyrolle (who died in 1967 before the book was published) and a short text by Beckett (the opening paragraph of Le Dépeupleur); and a chance meeting with Brassaï, at which Arikha was talked of.



He also gave the Arikhas financial support. His well-known unforced and good-humoured generosity is evident in several letters, as is Arikha's reluctance to take advantage of it: "...[20 October 1962:] Encaisse le foutu chèque pour l'amour de Dieu, je n'en ai pas besoin...[21 June 1964:] Je te sens gêné. Ne m'engueule pas. Ce sale fric. J'en ai trop...[14 May 1966:] Je t'ai vu fauché en rêve. Ne m'enguirlande pas...". A cheque for 1000 francs enclosed "just in case" in one letter is still present. Beckett was to be amply repaid by the painter with drawings and canvases.



Other letters in the series show his support for the work of other close friends, such as the writer Marguerite Duras: "...J'ai vu hier soir Le Square de Marguerite Duras au Nouveau Théâtre de Poche. Il ne faut pas rater ça. Ils ne peuvent pas faire de publicité et ça va se jouer (trente fois) pour ainsi dire sans qu'on le sache. Allez-y et dites à vos amis d'en faire autant. C'est (pour moi) un texte infiniment émouvant et Chauffard est très remarquable. Il faut soutenir une chose pareille...[6 April 1958]". Beckett also encouraged Anne Atik in her writing of poetry, by putting her in contact with editors or noting his reactions to her poems: "...I liked the second two less. Your quality is there but somehow clouded. The first two move me very much...Poetry is there faint and clear all the way, breathing through them all. You must find a way of going on...Thank you for letting me see your working poems and piece on that particular hell, read and reread with growing pleasure and understanding. Brava..."



Regarding productions of his own work, Beckett frequently and candidly expresses his reactions to, for example: the disappointing French première of La Dernière bande (Krapp's Last Tape) which he felt had suffered from Blin's refusal to play the part of Krapp ("...[31 March 1960:] C'est foutu, il n'y a qu'à tirer une croix dessus. Ces cons de critiques ne comprennent rien. Plus je remâche tout ça, plus je suis désolé. Je ne travaillerai jamais plus avec Blin [whom he avoided for the next two years]..."; the English première of Happy Days, after he was asked not to attend rehearsals for the sake of Brenda Bruce's self-confidence ("...[20 October 1962:] Sauf miracle cette semaine c'est le désastre. Je m'étais trompé. Je ne comprends pas ce qui s'est passé. Pourquoi je n'ai rien pu -- ou su -- faire..."); a 1964 production of Endgame by the English Theatre in Paris, with his "darlings" Jack MacGowran and Patrick Magee playing Clov and Hamm and two underwhelming actors playing Nag and Nell ("...Faiblesse du côté des poubelles. Tout à refaire et très peu de temps...Pat et Jack -- beaucoup de perdu mais pas d'inquiétude..."); the intensive shooting in New York of Film ("...[31 July 1964:] Je crois qu'on l'appelle Film tout court. Inutile de se fatiguer inutilement..."), during which he was struck by everyone's "énorme gentillesse", especially that of the editor and former viola-player Sidney Meyers; an unexpectedly successful revival of Godot at the Royal Court Theatre ("...Ici travail épuisant...Les crises et pépins habituels...Bons acteurs individuellement, excellent climat de travail..."); a badly delayed production of Godot at the Schiller-Theater Dramaturg which Beckett was called upon to bail out ("...[17 February 1965:] Un Pozzo à s'arracher yeux et oreilles. Les autres quelconques. Non combustibles. C'est gai..."); and the first performance of Endgame (Endspiel) directed in German by Beckett in August 1967, which receives very good reviews except from one critic who "misses his riddles".



Whether problematic or cooperative, actors are mentioned frequently in postcards and letters, with varying degrees of exasperation or optimism: R.J. Chauffard, playing Krapp in the première of La Dernière bande, "est toujours aussi mauvais et le sera toujours"; Brenda Bruce "a des choses très bien" as Winnie in the 1962 English première of Happy Days ("...C'était plutôt mal parti -- voix et inflexions fausses. Ça va déjà beaucoup mieux. Elle est petite...sourire très prenant, un peu trop mince...Elle prend maintenant un petit accent écossais, c'est fou ce que ça bonifie..."); Buster Keaton, with his face like thunder ("gueule de tonnerre") promises to be very suitable for Film; Nicol Williamson, a second choice after Patrick Magee for the part of Pozzo in a 1964 production of Waiting for Godot in London, impresses an initially doubtful Beckett ("...beaucoup de technique et de force..."); a large and clumsy Horst Bollmann, playing Clov in the first production of Endspiel directed by Beckett in German, takes up too much of the stage but (unless hungover) responds very well to direction; Martin Held pleases Beckett by giving up a part in Ionesco's Le Nouveau Locataire in order to concentrate on the part of Krapp in a German production directed by Beckett, and proves to be serious and solid, hard-working and easy to direct; and, as ever, Billie Whitelaw remains unsurpassed ("...Il n'existe qu'une seule Billie...").



Despondency surfaces when work is slow: "...[28 December 1958:] J'essaie de travailler, mais c'est toujours la même chose..."J'espère pouvoir continuer -- c'est le cas de le dire -- quand même...Ça donne comme un tout petit goût au torrent qui découle..." Comment c'est (How It Is) proved particularly troublesome, and occupied him almost exclusively for eighteen months: "[12 March 1959:] Côté travail je fais ce que je peux, ce n'est pas brillant. Le rythme et la syntaxe de la faiblesse...pas commode à attraper...[27 April 1959:] Je travaille, un ½ page par jour, dans 2 ans (s'il en reste 2) j'aurai une sorte d'ébauche...[31 March 1960:] Je n'ai pas la tête à Pim et n'ai rien fait. Ça ne m'intéresse plus et je n'y crois plus...". The complexity of Le Dépeupleur also taxed his concentration: "...[21 June 1966:] Il faudrait avoir à chaque instant présent dans la tête chaque détail de ce qui précède. Autrement dit y être tout entier..."



In her memoir, Anne Atik recalls how Beckett would sometimes sit wrapped in silence during their evenings together, and remarks on his friends' efforts to dispel the resulting awkwardness by talking about wine or Dr Johnson, or producing a chessboard. It could have been after one such evening that Beckett wrote a particularly touching letter in March 1962 to apologise for his "tristesse" ("Décidément je ne suis plus sortable"). His letters, too, are more than occasionally imbued with a sense of gloom. Even the imminence of a new year, for example, could elicit a note of melancholy ("...[28 December 1958:] Nous vous envoyons les nôtres [voeux]...pour le nouvel annus terribilis...[19 January 1970:] C'est sûrement une sale année qui commence..."), as could the London sky ("...Londres sinistre. Ciel de désastre...") or the building sites and traffic of Paris ("infernal"). At other times he appears listless or distracted: "...[25 April 1963 from Ussy:] Je ne fais rien. Drift about...Ah si je pouvais ne plus jamais bouger..."



Of Beckett's personal life, the letters reveal brief yet frequent glimpses. He passes on news of friends and acquaintances; of his travelling plans and holiday routines (walking, swimming, learning Portuguese (in order to read Pessoa in the original), cycling, motoring, sightseeing, playing chess, tracking down bottles of Johnny Walker Black Label or Tullamore Dew, etc.); of distractions from work at Ussy (such as pottering about in the garden, flattening weeds with a roller, daydreaming, staring out of the window, or birdwatching: "...Il s'agit d'un très joli oiseau vert foncé, vert clair, jaune-vert et rouge -- le pic vert. Il en vient quelque fois toute en bande picorer sur la pelouse..."); and of his health.



Subjects of conversations from long evenings together are taken up in some of the letters. Beckett exchanges books and quotations with the Arikhas (and, for example, copies out from memory J.M. Synge's 'Epitaph': "A silent sinner all his days..."), lingers on linguistic points (such as the oddity of Portuguese, with its mixture of economy and superfluity, its personalised infinitive and future subjunctive), and continues a discussion about the use of 'feat' in Footfalls ("...Thank you for 'feat' (adj.) examples. Few of adverbial use. My compact OED gives, from The Lover's Complaint, 'With sleided (sleaved) silk feat & affectedly enswath'd'...").



Beckett's wife, Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil, makes rare appearances in this series, yet she seems to have shared Beckett's admiration for Arikha's work ("...Suzanne est ravie de votre dessin...[17 April 1958]"). According to Atik's memoir, Suzanne was rarely part of the company when Beckett met up with the Arikhas. They were nevertheless two of the very few friends in whom Beckett confided about his secret wedding to Suzanne in Folkestone, receiving an enigmatic postcard: "Sang tourne plus calme dans la ville de Harvey" (quoted in Knowlson, p.482).



Sixteen of these letters are published in full (with translations) in Anne Atik, How It Was: A Memoir of Samuel Beckett (London, 2001). Copies of approximately 100 letters have been given to the editors of Beckett's Letters, the second volume of which is due to be published in two years' time. A few lines from the letters are quoted in James Knowlson, Damned to Fame: The Life of Samuel Beckett (London, 1996). Knowlson had access to the present series and interviewed Avigdor Arikha about his friendship with Beckett.



For selected translations see catalogue note on sothebys.com.



"...Reçu une carte...de félicitations d'un nommé Georges Godot, avec domicile dans le 17, me disant qu'il avait horreur de faire attendre. Je l'ai remercié de s'être manifesté avec une telle promptitude..."



"...My old head nothing but sighs (of relief?) of expiring cells. A last chance at last. I'll try. 'From where he sat with his head in his hands he saw himself rise and disappear.' Ineffable departure. Nothing left but try -- eff it..."

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Selected translations:

"Je suis très touché que la petite pièce vous accompagne ainsi. Le problème du titre me tracasse toujours. J'ai l'impression qu'il faut éviter le mot 'Fin'..."
["I'm very touched that the short play stays with you so. The problem of the title still bothers me. I have the feeling I should avoid the word 'End'..."]

"...[17 April 1958:] J'ai beaucoup parlé de vous hier à Bram van Velde et à Jacques Putman. Comme vous cherchez une galerie j'ai pensé que celle de Warren ferait peut-être l'affaire...Je ne sais vraiment pas si ça collera avex eux, j'ai plutôt l'impression que non. Mais je peux me tromper. A vous de décider..."
["...Yesterday I spoke a lot about you to Bram van Velde and Jacques Putman. As you are looking for a gallery I thought that Warren's could be suitable...I am not really sure whether it is their sort of thing, I have the feeling that perhaps not. But I could be mistaken. It's up to you..." ]

"...[20 October 1962:] Encaisse le foutu chèque pour l'amour de Dieu, je n'en ai pas besoin...[21 June 1964:] Je te sens gêné. Ne m'engueule pas. Ce sale fric. J'en ai trop...[14 May 1966:] Je t'ai vu fauché en rêve. Ne m'enguirlande pas..."
["...Cash the damn cheque, for God's sake, I don't need the money...You seem to be in difficulties. Don't tell me off. This rotten cash. I have too much of it...I dreamt you were broke. Don't reproach me..."]

"...J'ai vu hier soir Le Square de Marguerite Duras au Nouveau Théâtre de Poche. Il ne faut pas rater ça. Ils ne peuvent pas faire de publicité et ça va se jouer (trente fois) pour ainsi dire sans qu'on le sache. Allez-y et dites à vos amis d'en faire autant. C'est (pour moi) un texte infiniment émouvant et Chauffard est très remarquable. Il faut soutenir une chose pareille...[6 April 1958]".
["...I saw Le Square by Marguerite Duras last night at the Nouveau Théâtre de Poche. You mustn't miss it. They can't get any publicity and it will be on (thirty times) without anyone knowing about it, so to speak. Do go and tell your friends to do the same. It is (for me) an extremely moving text and Chauffard is truly remarkable. Something like this ought to be given support..."]

"...[31 March 1960:] C'est foutu, il n'y a qu'à tirer une croix dessus. Ces cons de critiques ne comprennent rien. Plus je remâche tout ça, plus je suis désolé. Je ne travaillerai jamais plus avec Blin..."
["...It's ruined, better to forget all about it. These bloody stupid critics don't understand anything. The more I brood over it, the sorrier I am. I will never work again with Blin..."]

"...[20 October 1962:] Sauf miracle cette semaine c'est le désastre. Je m'étais trompé. Je ne comprends pas ce qui s'est passé. Pourquoi je n'ai rien pu -- ou su -- faire..."
["...Without a miracle this week will be a disaster. I was mistaken. I cannot understand what's happened. Because I couldn't -- or didn't know how to -- do anything..."]

"...Faiblesse du côté des poubelles. Tout à refaire et très peu de temps...Pat et Jack -- beaucoup de perdu mais pas d'inquiétude..."
["...Bit shaky on the dustbin side of things. Have to start all over again and there's so little time...Pat and Jack are quite lost but not to worry..."]

"...[31 July 1964:] Je crois qu'on l'appelle Film tout court. Inutile de se fatiguer inutilement..."
["...I think it will be called simply Film.   There's no point in agonising over it pointlessly..."]

"...Ici travail épuisant...Les crises et pépins habituels...Bons acteurs individuellement, excellent climat de travail..."
["...Work here exhausting. The usual crises and problems...The actors are good individually, an excellent working atmosphere..."]

"...[17 February 1965:] Un Pozzo à s'arracher yeux et oreilles. Les autres quelconques. Non combustibles. C'est gai..."
["...A Pozzo who makes you want to tear out your eyes and ears. The others so-so. Not much spark. Brilliant..."]

"...C'était plutôt mal parti -- voix et inflexions fausses. Ça va déjà beaucoup mieux. Elle est petite...sourire très prenant, un peu trop mince...Elle prend maintenant un petit accent écossais, c'est fou ce que ça bonifie..."
["...It didn't start off well -- voice and inflections wrong. But it's already going much better. She is small...with a charming smile, a little too thin...She has now adopted a slight Scottish accent, and it's strange how much it adds..."]

"...[28 December 1958:] J'essaie de travailler, mais c'est toujours la même chose. J'espère pouvoir continuer -- c'est le cas de le dire -- quand même. Ça donne comme un tout petit goût au torrent qui découle..."
["...I try to work, but it's always the same. I should stress that I hope to continue nonetheless. At least a crumb of comfort in the face of the onslaught..."]

"[12 March 1959:] Côté travail je fais ce que je peux, ce n'est pas brillant. Le rythme et la syntaxe de la faiblesse...pas commode à attraper...[27 April 1959:] Je travaille, un ½ page par jour, dans 2 ans (s'il en reste 2) j'aurai une sorte d'ébauche...[31 March 1960:] Je n'ai pas la tête à Pim et n'ai rien fait. Ça ne m'intéresse plus et je n'y crois plus..."
["...As regards work, I do what I can, but it's not brilliant. The rhthym and syntax of weakness...not easy to capture...I work, half a page a day, in 2 years (if there are 2 years left) I will have a sort of outline...I can't concentrate on Pim and have done nothing. It doesn't interest me any longer and I don't believe in it any more..."]

"...[21 June 1966:] Il faudrait avoir à chaque instant présent dans la tête chaque détail de ce qui précède. Autrement dit y être tout entier..."
["...You have to keep in mind at all times every detail of what comes before. In other words you have to give yourself over to it entirely..."]

"Décidément je ne suis plus sortable".
["You really can't take me anywhere any more".]

"...[28 December 1958:] Nous vous envoyons les nôtres [voeux]...pour le nouvel annus terribilis...[19 January 1970:] C'est sûrement une sale année qui commence..."
["...We send you ours [best wishes] ... for the new annus terribilis... You can be sure it's the beginning of a rotten year..."]

"...Londres sinistre. Ciel de désastre..."
["...London is sinister. Disaster looms in the sky..."]

"...[25 April 1963 from Ussy:] Je ne fais rien. Drift about...Ah si je pouvais ne plus jamais bouger..."
["...I'm not doing anything. Drift about... Oh if only I could never move again..."]

"...Il s'agit d'un très joli oiseau vert foncé, vert clair, jaune-vert et rouge -- le pic vert. Il en vient quelque fois toute en bande picorer sur la pelouse..."

["...It's a very pretty dark green, light green bird with yellow-green and red -- with a green beak.. It comes sometimes with its flock to peck at the lawn..."]

"...Suzanne est ravie de votre dessin...[17 April 1958]"
["...Suzanne is delighted with your drawing..."]

"Sang tourne plus calme dans la ville de Harvey"
["Blood circulates more calmly in the town of [William] Harvey"]

"...Reçu une carte...de félicitations d'un nommé Georges Godot, avec domicile dans le 17, me disant qu'il avait horreur de faire attendre. Je l'ai remercié de s'être manifesté avec une telle promptitude..."
["...Received a card ... of congratulations from a man called Georges Godot, with an address in the 17th [arrondissement], telling me that he hates keeping people waiting. I thanked him for having announced himself so promptly..."]