Untitled ۔۔۔🙂!

In a small neighborhood of Paris, there lived a painter named Monnier. Monnier considered himself the greatest artist in the world, although his paintings were rarely bought. His biggest problem was his neighbor, Mr. Ponchard, a retired civil servant and an expert at finding faults in everything.

One day, Monnier, fed up, declared: “I will create a masterpiece that will leave Ponchard speechless!”

For three months, Monnier locked himself in his room. The neighborhood was talking about a great work of art. Finally, the day of the exhibition arrived. Monnier had covered a large canvas with a velvet curtain.

Ponchard came out, adjusting his glasses. Monnier proudly removed the curtain.

The canvas in front was completely empty! Only a layer of white paint had settled on it.

The crowd fell silent. Ponchard asked in surprise: “What is this? Monnier, have you gone mad? This is a completely blank piece of paper!”

Monnier smiled, took a deep breath and said:
“Sir! This is a piece of art that not everyone can see. The title of this picture is: ‘A white horse, in a white snowstorm, drinking white milk’.”

Ponchard said angrily: “But there is nothing to see here!”

Monnier replied calmly:
“Of course! When the storm is so fierce, the horse is white and he is drinking white milk, what dust can you see? This is the height of art that I have made the invisible visible!”

The whole crowd started to chatter. Since no one wanted to prove themselves “ignorant” or “unskilled in art”, everyone began to nod their heads:
A woman said: “Wow! How clear the horse’s ears are!”
A merchant said: “I can feel the cold of the snow.”
Ponshard, who was proud of his intelligence, was worried that he might be the only “fool”. He quickly took out his wallet from his pocket and said:
“Monsieur! You have done a great job. Here are 500 francs, this masterpiece is now mine!”

Mr. Ponshard proudly hung the blank canvas in the most prominent room of his house. He would call his friends and relatives and proudly say: “Look! Here is the masterpiece! ‘A white horse, in a white snowstorm, drinking white milk’!”

His friends, who were present at the exhibition, would all nod their heads and admire the depth of the art.

But one day, Mr. Ponshard’s six-year-old granddaughter, Marie, came home. She stared at the painting, then said innocently:
“Grandpa! It’s just a white sheet of paper! There’s nothing here!”
Ponshard’s face turned pale. He said angrily: “Marie! You’re still young. You don’t understand art. This is a very deep picture!”
Marie said again: “But Grandpa, where is the horse here?”
Ponshard replied nervously: “He… he’s hiding in the storm!”
“And where is the snow?” Marie asked.
“Snow… snow is also white, so it can’t be seen!” Ponshard stammered.
“And where is the milk?” Marie asked the last question.
Ponshard wiped his sweat: “Milk… milk is also so white that it can’t be seen!”

Marie strained her little brain, then said: “Grandpa! Did Monsieur Uncle sell you this blank paper for a high price?”
Ponchard had to face the truth for a moment. His face turned red. He began to think that he had bought his stupidity with his own money!
But Ponchard was also an old civil servant, with a high opinion of his own honor. He took a deep breath and, lifting Marie in his arms, said affectionately:
“My dear Marie! You are right, it is indeed blank. But it is a special kind of art. It is called the ‘art of silence’! You can imagine anything in it. It depends on your own imagination what you want to see in it.”
And then Ponchard thought of a trick. He gave this blank canvas more value!

Ponchard called his friends back and said: “Today I will introduce you to another quality of this great painting. It is not just a picture, it is an ‘imaginary canvas’. Now every month we will see a new ‘invisible’ masterpiece on it! Next month it will be ‘A black cat on a black night, sleeping on a pile of coal’! After that it will be ‘Empty in an empty heart’!”
People praised Ponchard’s “creative” thinking and began to consider him a “modern artist”. Mr. Ponchard not only hid his stupidity, but also gained more popularity by using it as evidence of his genius. And so, a “blank canvas” by Monet continued to display “invisible masterpieces” in Mr. Ponchard’s house for many years.

Derived from French literature