Reckless and irreversible

Recently I came across an image of a painting from the series “Portraits of Valencia “. It is called Man on the Bridge. I made some paintings with this theme probably more than ten years ago. I dedicated more time then to paint subjects other than portraits. Maybe I should resume this and make some uncommissioned work again. The painting was not bad, I guess. I say was, because it no longer exists in this form. One day I wondered if another cut would be better. With strips of paper I covered the picture to get an impression of a new crop. Recklessly I took the rash decision of putting the knife in. I trimmed the canvas! The truncated version hangs now at a friends place. I guess they do not know about the original version. But I regret the error. Why didn´t I see, I was about to commit a big mistake and ruin a good picture? So I warn you all, don´t be too quick with decisions that are irreversible.

Man on the bridge. Oil on canvas
Man on the bridge. Original version
Trimmend version.
Trimmend version

4 Replies to “Reckless and irreversible”

    1. Ja, ik zal weer eens wat meer vrij werk moeten maken. Voorlopig echter nog niet. Gr.

  1. Siempre digo que es mejor no quitar; si acaso, poner; pero además tengo que añadir a este comentario, que en casos como el tuyo, Ben, no hay que desechar ni una sóla de tus pinceladas; ni un sólo cm2 de tus cuadros. Todo lo que he visto siempre me ha parecido de una calidad extraordinaria… y especialmente este cuadro me encanta! Habrá mas sorpresas?

    1. Lamentablemente si, hay mas sorpresas. Pero de esas ya no existe evidencia.

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