Lawrence Sabbeth The GAZETTE, Montreal, Saturday, October 31, 1981

Cohen, Layton lithographs bound to please


Morten Rosengartan (Saidye Bronfman Centre, 5170 Cote St. Cath-erine Road, until Nov. 15) has made 14 black-and-white lithographs of Ca-nadian poets for a handsome book, The Lines of the Poet. The deluxe edition contains short poem accom-panying Rosengarten's depictions of the poets, among them Earle Birmey, Irving Layton, Leonard Cohen, Frank Scott, Al Purdy and Margaret Atwood.

Stylized sketches

The heads are large and strong, in stylized sketches that convey the poet hidden behind the exterior. On occassion, the technique tends to call a mite too much attention to itself, but the overall impression is that the poets are healthy, aggressive seekers of immortality.