Blackwell, Family GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE Boyajian, Isabelle C. Blackwell, Alice Stone ZABELLE C. BOYAJIAN. THE STUDIO, 43, LEICESTER SQUARE, London, W.C. 2. April 21st, 1934. Dear Miss Blackwell, Your letters are like a gleam of sunshine – I am getting so despondent even of finding anyone to understand, and wish to help! Thank you so much. I will go to Appleton's and have a talk with them, but the letter you enclose says quite rightly that the diversity of my work makes it difficult to place. When you publish one political novel, five or six literary articles in the "Contemporary Review," one anthology of Armenian poems and one dramatic poem on a Babylonian myth, no one connects any of these with each other nor with a future book on Greece, a collection of fantastic short stories, and a Roman play; so no one knows your work or looks out for it [or?] recognizes it. It is the same with my painting – portraits, landscapes illustrations in gold and colors; and I wrote to Mr. Barrows Mussey, as you said I might but have not heard from him yet. It is most sweet of you to have to written to him, too. Yours gratefully Zabella C. Boyajian.If I had only stuck to some wretched little water-colour landscapes, I might have made a big name in it by now! Yet an artist should be free to do what he or she feels and visualises, and each thing I have been able to place has received such recognition that I feel very bitter when I realize that we are living in an age when only wealth; cheapness or protection get on in the arts. For three years I have been trying to get an introduction to my cousin Samuel Courtauld, who is not only one of the wealthiest men in England, but a great patron of art and the theatre, and has helped artists to get on who have done much less than I have; another claim I have on him is that he is doing it to keep up the tradition of Samuel Rogers, the poet, and my work has many times brought Rogers' name into the Press; but each attempt that has been made has been stopped by some obstacle, and it seems impossible to approach him. I am interested in your Spanish translations, and am going to get the book. I was reading Spanish myself last summer, and with your English Athens I went to a large Armenian gathering, supposed to be celebrating the anniversary of Armenian Independence; and they did nothing but abuse the Soviet government! They commissioned me to paint a presentation picture to give the Greek government for the centenary of Greek Independence, in token of their gratitude for the kindness shown to Armenian refugees; when it was halfway through, approved by themselves, by the Directors of the Museums in Athens, and announced by all the Greek newspapers, they started quarrelling amongst themselves and decided not to present it - a picture 4 foot by three, all done in real gold, with flat colours in greens and blues and purples. To save my own reputation I had to go to the British consulate about it, and they were just sending me up to Venizelos, when the Armenians heard and came and begged me for the picture, which was finally presented, and is now in the Schliemann Museum. It was the same with the Madonna picture they commissioned for the Armenian church here, which was insultingly turned down by Mrs. Gulbenkian, and is now sitting like a dead weight on my hands, although everyone loves it. All this in return for my having published a luxury edition of their literature, which made the whole British Press do hommage to their poetry.ZABELLE C. BOYAJIAN. THE STUDIO, 43, LEICESTER SQUARE, London, W.C. 2. Feb. 4th 1934. Dear Miss Blackwell, I have been wanting to write to you for some time, and when a day or two ago I read an account of your address to the Armenians on the occasion of Archbishop Tourian's murder, I saw that we have much in common besides Armenia, and made up my mind to write. I also have sent a protest to the "Gotchnaj" against that dastardly murder, and it strikes me that you feel very much as I do about the Russian government and Soviet Armenia. How I wish I could meet you personally and have a long talk about it all! - and about many other things. X the reason why I wanted at first to write to you was a more selfish one. I wanted to ask ZABELLE C. BOYAJIAN. THE STUDIO, 43, LEICESTER SQUARE, London, W.C. 2. versions I shall be able to understand the originals. I find it easy, as I have no difficulty in reading Italian. A Spanish firm was very anxious to get the rights of publishing my book "Gilgamesh" in Spain, in a collection of the World's Art that they wanted to issue, but that also was given over for the present on account of the world crisis. The way the Tashnagdzagans are behaving is very sad, and were it not that there is so much scandal in almost every country just now, I should feel it even more acutely than I do. But that, of course, is no excuse. The only hope is Soviet Armenia. The "Gotchnag" has taken up a very strong and decent attitude with regard to the murder of the Archbishop, although I gather from what they say, that the Tashnagdzagans are justifying themselves, and behaving very badly. When I was in P.S. I have also a set of weird short stories, and an oriental play dramatised from one of Raffis' books but it is the other two that I am breaking my heart over, because they mean so much work and study. whether you could advise me as to the possibility of getting some of my work taken up by American publishers, or help me by recommending them, or introducing me. I know things are very difficult in America too now, but some things do get published, and I believe it is largely through influence. I don't know whether you saw my last book, "Gilgamesh;" it is a dramatic poem in blank verse, written with prologues, like a Greek play, and illustrated in Babylonian style by myself. After it had been rejected by several publishers one publisher took it up on the mere recommendation of Sir Israel Gollancz, the great Shakespeare scholar; and not only did it receive a great deal of recognition in the Press, but it has been catalogued as one of the most beautiful books printed since the war, and asked for by a Spanish firm, to be included in an edition of books dealing with ZABELLE C. BOYAJIAN. THE STUDIO, 43, LEICESTER SQUARE, W.C.2. the world's Art. On the top of all this recognition I am having great difficulty in getting my new work accepted for publication. This consists of - 1st A book of travel in Greece, to be illustrated with landscapes of the historical places which I painted there, and these, of course will make the book more expensive. These pictures have been exhibited here, and received most flattering notices in the "Times", and other papers, while the test of my book was kindly read by Professor Yones of Ithaka University, New York, whom I met in [?] who wrote to me some very encouraging things about it and said he thought it was worth publishing. The book is lightly and amazingly written, while the history and legend in it are intended to stimulate an interestin the study of the Greek classics. And in England, at least, there is no book showing the classical sites in their colour and atmosphere. 2nd A play on the life of the Emperor Tiberius - a historical, psychological, and sociological study, dealing with phases of Roman life which have their parallels in modern problems. This has been commended by people like Professor Allardyce Nicoll, who is at Yale University now, by Maurice Brown, Sybil Thorndyke and other literary and theatrical authorities. its fault seems to be that the public is not "cultured" enough for it! But surely the public should be led to like more serious things - and my work is by no means 'high-brow." It is so hard to have to destroy one's work just for lack of the right contact - it is like burning one's brain out. I should be so grateful if you could help me to put these through in any way, and will gladly send you [S.'s?] or Press cuttings if you can find time to look at them! Yours very sincerely Zabelle C. Boyajian [*this is a fragment of another letter.*] I have just been to see Appleton's Agent, who was interest in the Greek book and wants to see it, so I am asking my Agents to send the [s?]. I enclose a photograph of the picture I did in Greece, also one of my Madonna, which was thrown out by Mrs. Gulbessian in her anger against the priest for asking me to do it. It has just been exhibited in Florence at the show called "The Virgin Mary as seen by women artists." In the Armenian church here they have placed a horrible "futuristic" Resurrectionby Khatchadourian, another Armenian artist, where this was to have been; and not one Armenian protested, or did anything to save my prestige, because they are afraid of Gulbessian's money. I have gone through agonies for this picture because so many important people were interested in the painting, and asked to come and see it when placed in the church; then they had to be told it was rejected; an artist's reputation is everything now, and even good work doesn't count in this perverse age. [*Zabelle Boyajian*]