Abstract sumi e Print “Pure Contradiction” by Marilyn Wells

Abstract sumi e painting, Zen style, print with ink wash and both wet and dry brushstroke work by Marilyn Wells was inspired by Rilke…

“Rose - oh pure contradiction, joy

Of being No-one’s sleep under so many lids.”

  -Rilke 1871S-2

This poem mystified me a long time. I searched for uncovered meanings of this poem. “Rilke wrote in his diary: “I invented a new form of caress: placing a rose gently on a closed eye until its coolness can no longer be felt; only the gentle petal will continue to rest on the eyelid like sleep just before dawn.”

Claire Chan writes in The Student: “To read Rilke is to reach into emptiness. One of the greatest poets of the twentieth century, Rilke’s writing dealt with the sublime, our constant inability to reach it, and the solitary nature of human existence… reverberating in some unknown depths of the soul.” Just 4 years after completing the Elegies, Rilke died of leukemia at the age of 51.

“His self-composed, paradoxical, epitaph says: ‘Rose, oh pure contradiction, joy / of being no one’s sleep under so many lids.’ One peels back layers upon layers of Rilke’s poetry, only to find nothingness, emptiness. Or perhaps, with a shock of recognition, the reader comes face to face with himself, “exposed on the cliffs of the heart”.

This is a 2nd version of the quotation.

This is a Limited Edition Fine Art Print, numbered and signed, made from archival, museum quality giclée ink on hot press, acid-free 100% cotton rag media with a fine-tooth surface. Each will have an additional 1/4” white border to accommodate most framing needs, or which you can cut off if you wish. It is packaged in a crystal clear envelope with a sturdy back board for shipping and framing protection.

Each print will be hand signed on the back by the artist along with a stamp of authentication.

For all prints, expect 10 business days working time, as each is hand printed just before shipping, although usually less time is needed. Contact me for any other questions.

Original - AVAILABLE

Read more about my work and process under About Me, bottom of the Home Page.