• Skip to content

The right eyes: Rilke on painting

Rilke on painting

Main navigation

  • About this program
    • Index
  • Resources

Deep and utterly shallow green

December 4, 2017 by Elena Maslova-Levin

… artificial wakefulness in wine red, lamp yellow, deep and utterly shallow green…

Rainer Maria Rilke to Clara Rilke

Rilke goes to Bernheim’s gallery to see Rodin’s drawings, but there he encounters van Gogh again.

There is only a couple of sentences in today’s segment, and the painting Rilke talks about. I didn’t want to dilute the sheer power of synergy between this painting and the words.


 

OCTOBER 17, 1907 (PART 2)

First Mr. Bernheim took me to his storage room and showed me: van Goghs. The night café I already wrote about;

Vincent Van Gogh. The Night Cafe. 1888.

but a lot more could be said about its artificial wakefulness in wine red, lamp yellow, deep and utterly shallow green, with three mirrors, each of which contains a different emptiness.

STORYLINE: COLORS AND WORDS

How can something be both deep and utterly shallow? 

And yet, this paradoxical phrase captures the quality of this painting’s green with perfect precision.

SEEING PRACTICE: COLOR

There is striking, painful, naked simplicity in this color composition. But for all its simplicity, I think no one but van Gogh could have pulled this off.

I don’t want to influence your perception here, but if you are interested in my take on it, you can read it here (preferably after you’ve spent some time with the painting on your own).

Filed Under: Colors and words, Intercourse of colors Tagged With: Reflection, Vincent Van Gogh

Copyright © 2023 · Atmosphere Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

  • About this program
  • Resources