About

The issue of an artwork’s completion is a perennial one that will incessantly linger in an artist’s mind until he or she claims that it is decidedly finished. Or alternatively, until the artwork reaches the sight of its first public audience, customarily at an exhibition’s vernissage. In fact, in the 19th century, the word vernissage (originally French for “varnishing”) refers to the day before an exhibition’s opening, when artists were invited to varnish and put finishing touches to their paintings, in situ, consequently celebrating the completion of their artworks.

Since then, we have …