This sense of completion in an artist’s life struck me, and it made me think about what I may be neglecting now. I take as read the implication that he means ‘nothing important’.  A no-regrets summary of life. 

It also echoes something my father has said a few times recently, that some recent events in his children’s lives have made him feel the circle of his life is being completed, bringing him a sense of happiness, ease and fulfilment. 

‘At the end of his life, looking back on his career, Poussin said, “I have neglected nothing.”’ 

See also our quote-rich celebration of David Esterly’s magnificent book, The Lost Carving.

Source: David Esterly, The Lost Carving: A Journey to the heart of making (New York: Penguin, 2013), p. 111

Photo credit: Karl-Heinz Meurer, Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), stone sculpture, Louvre, Paris. Copyright: CC BY-SA 3.0 at wikimedia.