catalogue raisonné · entry no. vii
She Who Chose the Cut
the first mirror that looked back
- artist
- Benjamin Viulet
- year
- mmxxv
- medium
- oil & gold leaf
- dimensions
- 60 × 60 cm
- edition
- of 500
- status
- available
The account
She did not come from a sketch. She came from a silence that lasted three weeks — the kind that sits in the studio with you and refuses to leave until you stop pretending. I had been painting easier things, and every one of them felt like a closed door.
Then one night, near the end of the candle, the figure appeared on the panel almost without my permission. A woman holding the blade by the sharp end. Not wounded — choosing.
I understood, much later, that she was the part of all of us that decides what must be let go of, and pays for it gladly. The cut in her hand is every ending we postponed.
When the last layer of gold settled, I sat with her for an hour without touching a brush. Some works you finish. This one finished something in me.
Documentation
doc. a — moving record of the making
doc. b
doc. c
doc. d
doc. e
Provenance
- october, mmxxv Conceived during the three silent weeks; the panel gessoed and set aside.
- november, mmxxv Painted over forty-one days; the making recorded nightly in the atelier.
- december, mmxxv Editioned as a mirror of 500, each numbered and signed by hand.
- now Entered into the gallery archive. Editions remain with the temple.
Available editions
Three forms of this work remain with the archive. Each made by hand, each tied to this painting alone.