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| Albert Besnard Elderly Artist unable to paint, addressed by Death 1900 etching British Museum |
Clock
In the warm air of the ceiling the footlights of dreams are illuminated.
The white walls have curved. The burdened chest breathes confused words. In the mirror, the wind from the south spins, carrying leaves and feathers. The window is blocked. The heart is almost extinguished among the already cold ashes of the moon – the hands are without shelter – as all the trees lying down. In the wind from the desert the needles bend and my hour is past.
– Pierre Reverdy (1889-1960), translated by Lydia Davis (2013)
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| Muirhead Bone In Camera (man watching another working in photographer's studio) 1901 drypoint British Museum |
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| Pieter Dupont Portrait of Théophile Alexandre Steinlen in his Studio 1901 engraving British Museum |
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| Charles Conder Schaunard's Studio 1904 lithograph British Museum |
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| Anders Zorn Prince Paul Troubetzkoy in his Studio 1908 etching, drypoint British Museum |
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| Anders Zorn Prince Paul Troubetzkoy working on a Bust 1909 etching, aquatint, drypoint British Museum |
The Fox and the Bust
The great man's an actor who parades in a mask
And glamor is all that hero-worshippers ask.
The donkey judges by superficialities;
Whereas a fox sees all that there is to be seen,
And from all sides. Since his sensibilities
Discern more than surface sheen,
He dares say what he once said of a hero's bust –
A quip that certainly was just.
Though larger than life, it was a hollow affair.
The fox in commending the sculptor's gift as rare,
Remarked, "Fine head, but it lacks a mind."
How many grandees have fine heads of that kind!
– Jean de la Fontaine (1621-1695), translated by Marianne Moore (1953)
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| Jean-Louis Forain Le repos du modèle (seconde planche) 1909 etching British Museum |
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| Gertrude Hermes Work (The Studio) 1925 wood-engraving British Museum |
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| Blair Hughes-Stanton The Model 1926 wood-engraving British Museum |
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| Axel Fridell Studio Interior - Artist sketching a Couple 1932 etching British Museum |
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| Edgar Holloway Self Portrait No. 7 1936 etching British Museum |
from Evenings of Certain Lives
Never painted anything
in frost-white or ice-skater blue
or that Irish green
in which the purple shimmers through –
always my own monotone,
my compulsion to shadows –
not pleasant
to pursue that path so clearly.
– Gottfried Behn (1886-1956), translated by Michael Hofmann (2012)
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| Joseph Syddall Artist sketching before 1942 drawing British Museum |
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| Philip Wilson Steer The Studio before 1942 watercolor British Museum |
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| Ceri Richards The Artist's Studio - Blue Nudes ca. 1952-54 lithograph on blue paper British Museum |
Poems from the archives of Poetry (Chicago)