The artist was there for the gallery’s first day of displaying his work.
His main piece, a large abstract painting, dominated the room that had been given over to his work. As he entered, he immediately saw that this huge canvas had been hung upside down. He immediately checked to ensure that his several other pieces of artwork were all in order. It was only the larger canvas that was wrong. A sense of panic gripped him, knowing that to rehang it would take time and he knew that the doors were about to open. The repositioning would definitely create an unwanted disturbance. He had seen the small crowd of art lovers at the front of the building when he arrived making his way to the side entrance.
He was weighing things up in his head when he heard the first visitors making their way through. He moved away and began looking at other works, in order to mingle with the crowd. His intention being to listen in on any comments made by the viewers.
After only a few minutes, a small group had gathered around the large work. The artist found it gratifying to hear that it drew a lot of attention and remarks that indicated that it aroused real interest, despite its high price tag.
One woman said, “It says so much about the state of things, don’t you think?”
Her friend nodded.
A man turned to his partner and said, “You know, there is a wonderful sense of completeness in this work.”
Another remarked on the clever choice of colours, and yet another felt that it certainly spurred the imagination. These observations continued for some time, giving the artist reason to step aside and think.
It was about being true to himself as an artist, thus maintaining his personal professional integrity, while knowing that the sale of this one piece alone would enable him to do nothing but paint for the rest of the year!
As he reflected on the situation he realised that it all came down to a simple matter of basic morality. It would be a case of maintaining a standard of virtuous conduct by righting the painting and maintaining his self-respect as an artist or leaving it alone and taking the money.
He would really have to think about it…