Kindness (2009)

As part of my collaboration with Sam Hewitt on the subject of sins and virtues, I have painted my daughter, with her cat Wolfgang for the virtue of ‘kindness’
Kindness is the ultimate social lubricant. Tenderness and concern for others and the world at large is highly prized, in a study of 37 cultures around the world, 16000 subjects were asked about their most desired traits in a mate. For both sexes, the first preference was kindness (the second was intelligence)

Unlike many of the other virtues, kindness appears innate. The adult world of cruelty and egotism makes little sense to a child. It is only with age that we become hardened to the self-centered behaviour of others, and as a result begin to repress the kindness which we produced so readily as children.