The artist recently got an email from a new collector who had just purchased a Simonson painting. He was happy with his purchase except, he said, there was a missing speck of paint in the left eye. He wanted to send it back so the artist could repair it. Simonson wrote the following reply to the collector:
Dear *****,
Thanks for your message about a missing speck of paint on the left eye of the painting you purchased.
Let me reply by telling you a bit about how I decide a painting is finished.
When I stand back from a painting and ask myself if it’s finished, what I’m asking myself is, does the painting have the overall impact I want it to have? Is there anything taking away from that impact? If the answer is yes to the first question and no to the second, I sign the painting.
Now even though I’ve decided the painting is finished, there might still be areas where the canvas is more or less bare. I could go in and carefully touch up every one of those areas. But I’ve learned it’s better not to.
I’ve over-refined and over-finished enough paintings to know that doing so can choke the life and energy right out of them. I’ve found that knowing when to stop is a pretty important skill for a painter to have! Those areas of ‘bare’ canvas are just as important to the overall impact of the painting as the areas covered with paint.
BUT–If there’s something about the painting that really bothers you and you feel you must change it, go ahead. It’s your painting now. It’s not something I would do, but you’re the one who will be looking at the painting every day, and I do want you to be able to enjoy it fully. All I ask is that you’re honest with others, and let them know that the painting has been altered.
Thanks for writing, and thanks for your appreciation of my work.
Douglas Simonson
(NOTE: The artwork shown above, Pinoy Boy, is for illustrative purposes only, and is not the artwork in question.)