The Richest Table Is by the Water

When I painted this scene, I wanted to ask a quiet question: what does it truly mean to be rich?

On the café terrace above, I placed people who seem to have everything: white tablecloths, a pearl necklace, silver ice buckets, and champagne flutes carried past by a formal waiter. Yet I painted their faces turned down and away, eyes hidden behind sunglasses, as if the feast in front of them has lost its taste. They sit together, but each one feels alone.

Below them, on the stone ledge, a barefoot couple shares what little they have. A wooden crate becomes their table. Bread, a wedge of cheese, a few apples and a bottle of red wine are enough. Their feet hang above the lapping waves, and when their glasses meet, a small spark of light leaps between them. I made that spark the brightest point on the canvas.

I gave the couple warm, earthy colors and left the terrace cool and muted. To me, their laughter is the real luxury.

This painting reminds me, and I hope it reminds you, that joy is not served on silver. It lives in presence, in each other, in the simple act of raising a glass together.