Art Lovers discussion

9 views
Guess Who (by artist's works!) > It so happens I am sick of being a man. (Chaim Soutine)

Comments Showing 1-19 of 19 (19 new)    post a comment »
dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Dirk, Moderator (new)

Dirk Van | 4536 comments And it happens that I walk into tailorshops and movie houses

dried up, waterproof, like a swan made of felt

steering my way in a water of wombs and ashes.





message 2: by Kristine (last edited Jun 06, 2019 08:00AM) (new)

Kristine  Henshaw (kristilou) I've got it. Shall I let others have a chance at this one?


message 3: by Dirk, Moderator (new)

Dirk Van | 4536 comments Within Seven minutes!!!
You're too good for this thing ;-)
Was it that easy?
Or is the list getting too short ;-)


message 4: by Ruth (new)

Ruth Kandinsky?


message 5: by Kristine (new)

Kristine  Henshaw (kristilou) Not Kandinsky...How good I am depends on what period of art you are posting.


message 6: by Dirk, Moderator (new)

Dirk Van | 4536 comments Sorry Ruth, we had Kandisky on:
Apr 19, 2019 01:22AM
And I'm trying to avoid posting an artist twice. (That's why after 60+ artists the list of more or less known artists is getting shorter every time .)


message 7: by Geoffrey (new)

Geoffrey Aronson (geaaronson) | 930 comments it's messy like nolde's work


message 8: by Dirk, Moderator (new)

Dirk Van | 4536 comments Geoffrey wrote: "it's messy like nolde's work"

You have a point Geoffrey, his style is very similar, but it's not Nolde.
Wrong nationality.


message 9: by Dirk, Moderator (new)

Dirk Van | 4536 comments Almost 24 hours, so here’s a second pic:




message 10: by Ruth (new)

Ruth Soutine


message 11: by Dirk, Moderator (new)

Dirk Van | 4536 comments Yes!
Soutine is correct!


message 12: by Dirk, Moderator (new)

Dirk Van | 4536 comments


Self portrait


message 13: by Dirk, Moderator (new)

Dirk Van | 4536 comments And the poem complete:

It so happens I am sick of being a man.

And it happens that I walk into tailorshops and movie houses

dried up, waterproof, like a swan made of felt

steering my way in a water of wombs and ashes.

The smell of barbershops makes me break into hoarse sobs.

The only thing I want is to lie still like stones or wool.

The only thing I want is to see no more stores, no gardens,

no more goods, no spectacles, no elevators.

It so happens I am sick of my feet and my nails

and my hair and my shadow.

It so happens I am sick of being a man.

Still it would be marvelous

to terrify a law clerk with a cut lily,

or kill a nun with a blow on the ear.

It would be great

to go through the streets with a green knife

letting out yells until I died of the cold.

I don’t want to go on being a root in the dark,

insecure, stretched out, shivering with sleep,

going on down, into the moist guts of the earth,

taking in and thinking, eating every day.

I don’t want so much misery.

I don’t want to go on as a root and a tomb,

alone under the ground, a warehouse with corpses,

half frozen, dying of grief.

That’s why Monday, when it sees me coming

with my convict face, blazes up like gasoline,

and it howls on its way like a wounded wheel,

and leaves tracks full of warm blood leading toward the night.

And it pushes me into certain corners, into some moist houses,

into hospitals where the bones fly out the window,

into shoeshops that smell like vinegar,

and certain streets hideous as cracks in the skin.

There are sulphur-colored birds, and hideous intestines

hanging over the doors of houses that I hate,

and there are false teeth forgotten in a coffeepot,

there are mirrors

that ought to have wept from shame and terror,

there are umbrellas everywhere, and venoms, and umbilical cords.

I stroll along serenely, with my eyes, my shoes,

my rage, forgetting everything,

I walk by, going through office buildings and orthopedic shops,

and courtyards with washing hanging from the line:

underwear, towels and shirts from which slow

dirty tears are falling.

Pablo Neruda


message 14: by Ruth (new)

Ruth Wonderful poem. I love that you’re pairing poetry and art, my two main interests.


message 15: by Geoffrey (new)

Geoffrey Aronson (geaaronson) | 930 comments kokoshka


message 16: by Dirk, Moderator (new)

Dirk Van | 4536 comments Ruth wrote: "Wonderful poem. I love that you’re pairing poetry and art, my two main interests."

You know I spend sometimes more time searching for a fitting line than I do for choosing a painting ;-)
And once in a while I hit on a pearl like this, I do not pretend to understand in all, but I do get the feeling...


message 17: by Dirk, Moderator (new)

Dirk Van | 4536 comments Geoffrey wrote: "kokoshka"

We had Kokoshka already on May 18, 2019 07:36AM
But they have indeed a similar style.


message 18: by Geoffrey (new)

Geoffrey Aronson (geaaronson) | 930 comments sorry, I am missing some threads. That's why I don't know if it's been played.


message 19: by Kristine (last edited Jun 09, 2019 08:39AM) (new)

Kristine  Henshaw (kristilou) Yes, a very apt choice of poem for this artist.


back to top