Anna Karenina Unconditional Love

Like so many others, my favourite book is Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. As a print maker, it really was just a matter of time before I incorporated this tale of love, betrayal, guilt and passion in my work. The themes Tolstoy explores in this book are universal, and strike a chord with people almost 150 years later.

The chapters I have chosen to cover in my work are the thoughts of Anna’s sister in law, Dolly, and in particular her description of unconditional love.

This print would make the perfect gift to someone who has been your rock in life, stuck by you through it all and loves you unconditionally. It is also a great gift to yourself, you deserve it!

In this print Dolly reflects on the course of her adult life. Her thoughts have been carved out on my block as the translators, Louise and Aylmer Maude, have written them. Dolly’s reflection takes place while she observes the Russian countryside, her sight is taken with images of women carrying ready-twisted sheaf-binders on their shoulder against the backdrop of rye fields. She comments on the agency Anna has taken of her own path in life, juxtaposed against her own seemingly constricted life choices.

I wanted to cover these chapters because they contain my favourite quote from a Tolstoy novel, a quote on unconditional love and one that is passed between two female characters and is so often overlooked for the other examples of love in this book. We see Anna in these chapters through Dolly’s eyes. Dolly sees her happiness as contentment, as a consequence of claiming her agency. She has no need to assuage Anna’s internal conflict, what Dolly says to Anna is unforced and from the heart: “I love you. And when you love someone, you love the whole person, just as they are, and not as you want them to be”.

The title block that accompanies this print reads, 'Anna Karenina -- 2 - 6 - 16-18', if you have this hanging on your wall, the audience will know that this is Anna Karenina, book two, part six, chapter 16-18.

This print is entirely handmade, carved by hand and hand pulled using black caligo ink on Awagami Ho-Sho paper. Because each print is hand pulled you're purchasing a unique finish on your print.

Your print will be posted in a postal tube on Tuesday or Thursday depending on the day you check out. And if you're in an absolute rush, just send me a message and I'll post your print to you the following day when you check out with Domestic/International delivery upgrade.