" ... je malmène trop cerveau et coeur et alors se vengent mes organes si sensibles et qu'avec l'âge on doit beaucoup plus ménager..."

Autograph letter signed by the painter Georges Rouault (19 lines in blue ink on one page) apologizing for having to hastily postpone an appointment due to feeling unwell.
Fold marks inherent to being placed in an envelope.
His mind clouded by pain, Georges Rouault presents his apologies for their appointment which he cancelled and attempts, despite his correspondent's tight schedule, to meet with him nonetheless: "Je ne sais ce que j'ai pu écrire hier ayant été pris de violentes douleurs de tête et pressé de vous prévenir de l'impossibilité où j'étais..." ["I don't know what I could have written yesterday having been seized with violent headaches and pressed to inform you of the impossibility in which I found myself..."], "... je suis bien désireux de vous voir avant et de vive voix de m'exprimer mieux qu'ici..." ["... I am quite desirous to see you beforehand and to express myself better in person than here..."]
He feels better and ready to endure the physical ordeal of an interview while considering that he does not take much care of his precarious health: "... je malmène trop cerveau et coeur et alors se vengent mes organes si sensibles et qu'avec l'âge on doit beaucoup plus ménager..." ["... I mistreat my brain and heart too much and then my organs, so sensitive and which one must spare much more with age, take their revenge..."]