WORLD WAS

Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926, Austrian

Translated by Stephen Mitchell

 

 

 

World was in the face of the beloved–,

 

 

Triumph and Glory, December 1950, oil on canvas, 

Jean Dubuffet, 1901-1985, French.  Solomon R. Guggenheim, NY

 

 

 

 

but suddenly it poured out and was gone:

world is outside, world cannot be grasped.

 

 

 

 

The Sun Tarot XIX, 1960, collage of cut papers (colour lithographs on paper) with window shade pull; and details below.

Jess (Jess Collins), 1923-2004, American. Philadelphia Art Museum

 

 

 

 

 

Why didn’t I, from the full, beloved face

as I raised it to my lips, why didn’t I drink

world, so near that I could almost taste it?

 

 

 

 

 

Ah, I drank. Insatiably I drank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But I was filled up also, with too much

world, and, drinking, I myself ran over.

 

 

 

Door to the River, oil on linen, 1960. 

Willem de Kooning, 1904-1997, American born the Netherlands.  Whitney Museum of (North) American Art, NY

 

 

 

 

Flowing like a River, 1996-67, collage and gouache on paper. 

David Driskell, 1931-2020, American. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia

 

 

 

 

The River, woven cotton twill, 2006

 Ted Hallman, born 1933, American.  Philadelphia Museum of Art

 

 

 

 

River of Light, 1877, oil on canvas.

Frederick Edwin Church,  1826-1927, American.  National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

 

 A painting which is a composite of memories and sketches from a visit to South America 20 years before

 

 

 

But I was filled up also, with too much

world, and, drinking, I myself ran over.

 

 

 

 

Sixteen Waterfalls of Dreams, Memories, and Sentiment. 1990, oil on canvas.

Pat Steir, American born 1940. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

 

 

 

But I was filled up also, with too much

world, and, drinking, I myself ran over.

 

 

 

 

The Ashokan Reservoir, Ulster County, NY, 1992-2015

With loving thanks.

 

 

 

                    ………….I myself ran over.

 

 

 

 

 

                             ………. I myself ran over.

 

 

 

 

Travelling with Robert Hughes, 1969-1970, acrylic on canvas.

Frank Bowling, British born Guyana, 1934.  The Joyner/Giuffrida Collection on exhibit at the Baltimore Museum in 2019

 

 

 

Bartica Born, 1968, acrylic paint on canvas, and detail.

Frank Bowling, British born Guyana, 1934.  Private collection on loan to Brooklyn Museum in 2018/19

 

 

 

Dog Daze, 1971, acrylic and spray paint. 

 Frank Bowling, British born Guyana, 1934. Private collection; photo from the website of the Tate, London.

 

 

 

A prince of land and water at Mt. Cuba, Hockessin, Delaware wondering when this post is going to come round to the marvels of his life…