Customer Reviews

I, Eternal Child: Paintings and Poems

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Too few art lovers realize that at the very controversial turn of the century, too short-lived painter Egon Schiele wrote poetry, and yes, even was a published poet. The artist's name immediately conjures the raw self portraits and the exploration of 'forbidden territory' in his paintings, but too soon we forget the eloquent landscapes and paintings of branches, trees, rivers, canals that glow with a prescient promise of the art movements that were to come at a much later date. This very fascinating book, I, ETERNAL CHILD, first published by Grove Press in 1985 is beginning to surface again in rare book stores and now that Amazon.com has made it available, this reader would encourage those who are fascinated by the strange world of art Schiele created to obtain a copy.

Well designed as an art book, each poem written by the painter is placed opposite a fine reproduction of one of his paintings. All forms of this work are shared but the emphasis is on the many self portraits that echo the sentiments in the title poem of the book. Yet there are other brief poems that somehow enhance Schiele's unique style. An example:

MUSIC WHILE DROWNING

There were moments when the black river
put a yoke on all my powers.
I saw the small waters large
and the gentle shores steep and high.
Turning, I fought
and heard the waters within me,
the good and beautiful black waters -
then I breathed golden strength again.
The river flowed, rigid and stronger.

Twenty-five poems and twenty-three paintings are well curated in this collection. This book is one to seek for the personal library and for the art schools libraries here and in Europe. Catch a copy of this Collectors Item! Grady Harp, November 09