New York, c.2000s

Autograph postcard to Marianne Ihlen, no date.

150 x 100mm.

Come to New York! The context is unknown but the message says it all. Though Marianne and Leonard separated decades earlier, Cohen would always praise their “mysterious enduring love.” Upon hearing in 2016 that his former lover lay dying, he wrote to her, “Well Marianne it’s come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon. Know that I am so close behind you that if you stretch out your hand, I think you can reach mine... But now, I just want to wish you a very good journey. Goodbye old friend.” Cohen died in November 2016, only 3 months after Marianne.

By descent from Marianne Ihlen.