Leonard Cohen works on paper (Drawn to Words)

blonde madonna · Post by **blonde madonna** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:21 am

Leonard Cohen - Drawn To Words - works on paper
June 3 - 30 2007

World Premiere Exhibition part of the Luminato Festival, Toronto

TORONTO, March 27 /CNW/ - Drabinsky Gallery, Toronto, in association with
the Luminato Festival, Toronto, and the Richard Goodall Gallery, Manchester,
UK, is proud to present the world premiere exhibition of works on paper and
annotations by Canadian poet, songwriter and novelist, Mr. Leonard Cohen.
Drawn to Words features more than 30 pigment prints of drawings and
sketches selected from Mr. Leonard Cohen's extensive private archive
stretching back over 40 years.
Images from Drawn to Words will include portraits, nudes, objects and
landscapes, many of which are annotated with Cohen's personal notes,
observations and musings. Some feature recognizable characters from his songs,
while others reflect his changing moods through revealing self-portraits.
Drawings that capture views from his Montreal apartment, alongside pictures
drawn during his five-year seclusion (1996-2001) as a Zen Buddhist Monk at
Mount Baldy Zen Center are included in the collection.
Mr. Cohen has kept journals and sketchbooks since the mid 1960's. As his
music career developed, he continued to sketch and draw at every available
opportunity and his visual work shares many of the same qualities and themes
found in his music and poetry - the light and shade of human emotion, dark
humor, social commentary, sexuality and politics. At least one of Mr. Cohen's
original journals will be on display during the exhibition.
Throughout his career, Mr. Cohen's art has always been highly private.
Only when some of his drawings appeared in his collection of prose and poetry,
Book of Longing, published in 2006, did his worldwide fan base get a glimpse
of this side of his creativity. We are honored to make this exceptional work
available to a wider audience through the publication of these limited edition
pigment prints mastered by Nash Editions, California. Each will be signed,
numbered and dated by Mr. Cohen and many will carry personal text.

Drabinsky Gallery, located at 122 Scollard Street, will be open Mon - Sun
10-5 during the Luminato Festival in Toronto. http://www.drabinskygallery.com,
info@drabinskygallery.com

For further information: My Johansson, (416) 324-5766

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 3:50 am

Thanks for this info, Madonna

. I'm wondering now whether this means that these can be ordered ahead of time, as in now or soon; or whether one must wait until the Festival, itself, to purchase only there.

My first read through of this didn't clarify any of that.

~ Lizzy

richard goodall gallery · Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:51 pm

Hi all Richard Goodall Gallery here.

We have worked with Leonard to create these works on paper of Leonard's art.

There will be more information coming in the next weeks but I'll try to give you the basic answers here.

Availability
The work is available worldwide from us at Richard Goodall Gallery. We will ship anywhere and we are the only place you can get it from apart from at one of the exhibitions. Prices will be the same everywhere.

It will be available only on-line through Richard Goodall Gallery, at the Richard Goodall Gallery, and at the exhibitions. Its not available yet and there aren't image previews available yet but they will be coming soon.

Exhibitions
The first exhibition of the work is at Drabinsky Gallery in Toronto. This is the first time they will be seen in person by anyone, as part of the Luminato Festival.

Drabinsky Gallery are the authorised gallery seller for Eastern Canada. There will be more to come all over the world. Dates and locations will be announced shortly.

Editions
Edition sizes are small and once sold out they will never be re-printed. Each one is hand signed and numbered and dated by Leonard and many annotated

Pricing and dates of availability and preview are yet to be released but will be in the coming weeks.

Any questions drop me a PM or an email and I'll try to answer them all. We hope you all like the work when it is released we think it is phenomenal and rightly establishes Leonard as a fine artist also.

Best

Jody

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:30 pm

Thank you for this illuminating and extremely helpful information, Jody.

Now, the question becomes a financial ones... but, obviously, there's no word on that, yet... or it would've been included.

~ Lizzy

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Fri May 18, 2007 10:50 am

Three previews from http://www.richardgoodallgallery.com.

Now, according to Dick, Drabinsky Gallery's prices are very hot - I wonder about prices in Manchester...

damellon · Post by **damellon** » Fri May 18, 2007 11:10 am

I enquired about prices for these works some weeks ago and was given a rough estimate of $US 2000 per piece from the Canadian gallery. Was only an estimate, but maybe you could guage the level from that Lizzy.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Fri May 18, 2007 12:52 pm

Ha

, Damellon. There are plenty of Leonard fans out there who can afford these, but I'm not one of them. I was wondering what Dick said when he said "hot," as that could go either way. Your posting wrapped that word right up and tied it with a ribbon, though, Damellon

. I'd love to have the first and the third of those that Tom's just posted. I wonder if the Gallery will have high-gloss, 4x6 postcard sizes of them, for us less-affordabees.

~ Lizzy

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Fri May 18, 2007 1:07 pm

2000 is the smallest print - other sizes are up to 5000.

Not my kind of game:-)

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Fri May 18, 2007 1:09 pm

Okay... thanks, Tom. That went the reverse of what it was supposed to

. Oh, well. They sure are lovely to look at here

.

~ Lizzy

richardrj · Post by **richardrj** » Fri May 18, 2007 1:13 pm

The gallery is being somewhat disingenuous when it states "Only when some of his drawings appeared in his collection of prose and poetry, Book of Longing, published in 2006, did his worldwide fan base get a glimpse of this side of his creativity." I recall that some original artworks were made available from a gallery in Norway around the time of the 1988 tour. I don't have the tour programme to hand, but I'm sure there was an advertisement for them in it. In fact, the picture of the green chair looks distinctly familiar and I'm fairly sure it was one of those advertised.

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:00 pm

You're right, Richard, I also vaguely recall earlier appearances, but that wasn't in so big number of artworks, as now.

Denmark 1993, 3 artworks: http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/portfolio.html

One of them is at The Files:

1 French print in 1993: http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/collect6.html

Sony Germany printed special booklets for TNS with 4 colour artworks, while Sony France printed TNS booklet with 12 artworks in b&w: http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/tnsbooks.html

There was also Polish litography in 2004, and Dear Heather postcards by SonyBMG in US. http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/pollitho.html

And there was special edition of Stranger Music - that's most similar to this:

http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/collect2.html

All thse artworks are know from the Files. I also published plenty of them in "15 dana" magazine (in Croatia), for LC's 70th birthday (http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/dana.html). One drawing was the brand new at the moment, My Misterious Art (then put on the Files also). I printed them nine in the magazine, in prety high size (hmm, now I realised I do have CDR with thos ein pretty high res

) Here's whole page with that drawing, from the magazine, on my site: http://www.leonardcohencroatia.com/mojz ... tnosti.jpg

So LC was providing those artworks very often in recent years.

Only think I can't see from this new exhibition is are the prints sold separately for those prices, or there's portfolio?

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:20 pm

On the guitar with the electric blue and aqua on the purple backgrounds against the black of the book and Leonard's signature. All I can make out on the other is "To Jarkko"... of course, that's enough

. Also

what appears to be The Ballad of the Absent Mare, not so absent

.

~ Lizzy

johnny7moons · Post by **johnny7moons** » Fri May 18, 2007 3:40 pm

OK, I'll have to time a trip up to Manchester to see this. But... 'Drawn to Words'? 'DRAWN TO WORDS'? Somebody please reassure me that LC wasn't the one who came up with this g-dawful title...

dick · Post by **dick** » Fri May 18, 2007 3:57 pm

"Hot" was Tom's term, not mine .. prices are steep
and sadly Tom... they are for individual prints, not a portfolio

The Canadian gallery - who now say they won't show the 30 or so paintings that will available until June 1 on their website sent these prices:

15x12" $1,500.00 US (edition #1-25)
$2,000.00 US (edition #26-50)

30x20" $2,500.00 US (edition #1-25)
$3,000.00 US (edition #26-50)

40x30" $4,500.00 US (edition #1-25)
$5,000.00 US (edition #26-50)

They preview four paintings now. First public show June 3.

Prints limited to 100 each, with the price increasing by $500 for each set of 25. That way the ones that sell quickly will get higher prices as they approach being sold out.

damellon · Post by **damellon** » Fri May 18, 2007 9:27 pm

Wow - is that common practice - to increase the price with every 25 issued? You'd imagine they'd get cheaper because the rarity value is less.