Compassion

Two women. An embrace. A moment between them.
What has happened before this moment, and what happens afterwards, I leave to the viewer. Perhaps one woman is comforting the other. Perhaps they are sisters, friends, mother and daughter, or simply two people who need each other. Everyone can bring their own story to Compassion.

I painted this work in Gualdo Cattaneo, Italy, around forty years ago, during the years when I lived and worked there. It is one of only two paintings I still have from a much larger body of work created during that period; the others all found new homes.

Looking at Compassion now is also like looking back at an earlier version of myself as a painter. At the time I still used black paint, something I stopped doing many years ago. Today I create my own dark tones by mixing colours, which gives me a softer, more natural depth. Yet here the intensity of the black works. It holds the two figures together and adds to the strength and emotion of their embrace.

There is no single story behind this painting that you need to know. I would rather leave that story unfinished.

Perhaps you recognise something of your own in it.
The original is an oil painting on canvas.