More from Moravia's "Boredom"

As the intro by William Weaver says: It's not about painting. Still the narrator, in contemplating his relationship with Cecilia, contemplates an empty canvas and quotes Kandinsky:

How the devil, then, could I paint on that canvas, which on the day of my first meeting with Cecilia I had signed as if to underline the fact that painting, as far as I was concerned, was finished? To comfort myself, I reread something that Kandinski had written on this very subject. "The empty canvas. In appearance -- really empty, silent, indifferent. Stunned, almost. In effect -- full of tensions, with a thousand subdued voices, heavy with expectation. A little frightened because it may be violated. But docile. It does willingly whatever is asked of it, it only begs for mercy. It can lead to anything, but cannot endure everything. A wonderful thing is the empty canvas, more beautiful than many pictures...." Suddenly I hurled the book on the floor and almost ran out of the studio.