04/11/2026
Fin.
Nearly four years in the making. I started this painting in October of 2022. It has gone through many stages and often sat on the wall drying, waiting for another layer of paint, existing in the in-between. But now it is done.
Les Voyages De Napoléon
Oil on Canvas
48x40 Inches
In painting this piece, and with the passing of time, I spent a long time thinking about the phenomenon of War and the illusion of Power.
There are no winners in War, and those that would set out to command and boast about how much Power they hold, usually don’t command much of anything except for an illusion.
When an empire is spread too thin at the will of one power-hungry individual, it often sees itself crumble.
Boastful displays by those in power are all too often simply masking incompetence.
If history is any testament, we should learn from it.
The People should be increasingly weary of men without morals, who have a desire to conquer the world instead of their own egos.
From the 53rd Verse of the Tao Te Ching, there is some Wisdom on this subject:
“If I were suddenly to become known, and put into a position to conduct a government according to the Great Tao, what I should be most afraid of would be a boastful display.
Their courtyards and buildings Shall be well kept, but their fields and granaries very empty. They shall wear elegant ornamented robes, carry a sharp sword at their girdle, pamper themselves in eating and drinking, and have a superabundance of property and wealth- such princes may be called Robbers and Boasters. This is surely contrary to the Tao.”
-Lao Tzu
