Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Kali Drawings for Irving





Four Illustrations for Irving Rosenthal translation of
Ramprasad Sen Complete Lyrics;
graphite on paper; 8.5 x 5.5 inches each; April 2015.

At one point Irving asked if I would make some drawings
for his translation of the complete lyrics
of the legendary 18th century Bengali songwriter,
Ramprasad Sen.
He allowed me to read as much as I cared to
in his Library, and he made a copy of one lyric,
about a dissatisfied sculptor, to study at my leisure.
The head, gripped by the hair in one of Kali's left hands,
in the first drawing, is a portrait of Irving.



Oh Calcutta, why should I go to Benares when I have the Flower of Bengal?



No comments:

Post a Comment