A review by yuefei
Letters to a Young Painter by Rainer Maria Rilke, Rainer Maria Rilke

Trying to make my way through the books I've accumulated throughout the years, which I couldn't/didn't take with me and have left behind here in NZ. This one was brief and charming, a few glimpses into Rilke's private life via his correspondences with Balthus. I remember seeing this book at Unity (J. pointed it out to me) and finding the title appealing; a chance encounter, almost like fate, that would give me the guidance I needed to develop as an artist. It's difficult not to romanticise early 20th century artistic life—there is a kind of comforting and necessary escapism in its mythologies (it makes a lot of sense that this was published by David Zwirner); this book feels a little bit like a reflection of what I was like in high school; desperately searching for some guidance and finding a large reserve of energy in these Romantic myths about the figure of the artist.