A Day's Work is Never Done

Andy Warhol’s “Do It Yourself (Violin)” (1962) is non finito,
i.e., intentionally unfinished (Economist image)

Unfinished paintings, unlike unfinished novels and movies, can be appreciated "as is." The inaugural exhibition of the new Marcel Breuer building ("Met Breuer) of the Metropolitan Museum of Art showcases 197 works that are in varying stages of completion.

Certainly the most common reason for an incomplete painting, at least in the early stages of this exhibition, is death or its approach...After death, the next-best reason not to hand in your homework is genius...grasping for the unattainable.

Geniuses are never satisfied, hence the discovery of partially completed works after their death has become commonplace. Everything can be made better, everything is in the process of becoming something else.

Note 1 (and Good Friday reference): in the Greatest Story Ever Told Jesus himself said, "It is finished," (John 19:30) but the story was actually far from over.

Note 2: Perhaps the most famous "unfinished" work of art in the past 200 years is a piece of music.