Now twenty years later it still hangs in my house – actually now house number three – a key house hunting requirement for me has been a room with a wall big enough to accommodate it. The painting often attracts comments from guests, speculating about what it means. Many first believe it to be a photograph – or say it reminds them of a photorealist painting by Gerhard Richter. One person was convinced the setting was Brompton Cemetery, another declared that the young woman was dead – the image was of her spirit wandering among the graves. Some people have expressed horror at the idea of living with a picture of a burial ground – my own personal memento mori. Do people really believe death might be catching?
A few years after buying the painting I tracked down the artist – thanks to Mr Google – and was invited to visit him in his Whitechapel studio. He confirmed that the setting was indeed Brompton Cemetery. In my football season-ticket owning days, I often used to walk through the cemetery from Earl’s Court en route to matches at Stamford Bridge, and I would look along the overgrown pathways between the graves, hoping in vain to catch a glimpse of the mysterious girl. The artist said nothing about who she was, so I still have an excuse to speculate. What do you think is the story behind the painting?
Now twenty years later it still hangs in my house – actually now house number three – a key house hunting requirement for me has been a room with a wall big enough to accommodate it. The painting often attracts comments from guests, speculating about what it means. Many first believe it to be a photograph – or say it reminds them of a photorealist painting by Gerhard Richter. One person was convinced the setting was Brompton Cemetery, another declared that the young woman was dead – the image was of her spirit wandering among the graves. Some people have expressed horror at the idea of living with a picture of a burial ground – my own personal memento mori. Do people really believe death might be catching? A few years after buying the painting I tracked down the artist – thanks to Mr Google – and was invited to visit him in his Whitechapel studio. He confirmed that the setting was indeed Brompton Cemetery. In my football season-ticket owning days, I often used to walk through the cemetery from Earl’s Court en route to matches at Stamford Bridge, and I would look along the overgrown pathways between the graves, hoping in vain to catch a glimpse of the mysterious girl. The artist said nothing about who she was, so I still have an excuse to speculate. What do you think is the story behind the painting?
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