Starry's idea vault

This is a story my father told me as a little girl. I got the meaning but I had no direct contact to the artists’ world back then that could have made me truly realize the greatness of the story. Now I have seen from up close how they sweat blood and persevere until they are content. The story expanded with a new dimension of meaning. It’s time to retell again, albeit the exact details missing.

A famous artist, at the beginning of his career, was commissioned to do a painting of a rooster’s head. When the allotted time was up, the client came to his studio to get the painting and pay. The master produced a beautiful rendering of the rooster head: life-like, with shiny feathers, of deep vivid colors, and a piercing gaze. The client was deeply satisfied with the work and offered to pay up front.

“How much money do you charge for this fine piece of art?” He asked.

“350 golden coins,” was the answer. The client gasped in horror. It was a mere rendering of a household animal, after all.

“I am a man of standing,” he spoke to the painter, “and this is a remarkable piece you produced here. But it is a small fortune you are asking for. I could have my son schooled for that amount.”

“The price is 350 golden coins or it shall remain with me,” the artist repeated.

The wealthy man saw the artist was not bending on this, and as he yearned for the painting, he grudgingly agreed to pay the price.

“Very well then,” he said, “but pray, do tell: what makes you so bold as to ask for 350 pieces of gold for a rooster’s head?”

The artist, instead of a reply, walked up to a door in the wall. It opened to a little room, with 5 shelves running around on all walls, from ceiling to floor. There were canvases stacked tight on the shelves, 70 on each. The client pulled out a canvas and his eyes went wide. He pulled out another few, inspecting each shelf, then turned and left the little room. He silently took the painting and left a large bag of gold on the table.

The artist gently pushed back each canvas the wealthy man had inspected. There was a study of a rooster on each one of them.

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The rooster paintings are © Jean Levert Hood, Denny Holland, and Anne-Karine Thoresen, respectively