Politeness – H9-4 (The Virtues)

Referencing Impressionism, Pointillism and Action Painting, the Cherry Blossoms are about the spontaneous joy of spring. Damien Hirst said “Cherry Blossoms are about beauty and life and death. They’re extreme – there’s something hopeful yet hopeless about them. They’re art but taken from nature. They’re about desire and how we process love and why we need it, but also these prints are about the momentary, the insane transience of beauty – a tree in full crazy blossom against a clear blue sky. How can you argue with that? It’s been so good to make these prints, to be completely lost in colour for a while. Blossoms are optimistic and bright yet fragile, just like we are and I hope that The Virtues can remind us to always try and get the most from life.”

According to Inazō Nitobe, at the centre of Politeness is modesty, compliance and respect for others’ feelings. It imparts grace onto manners and acts as an elegant expression of sympathy. That is, Politeness requires one to ‘weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice’. Practised in its highest form, the virtue of Politeness ‘approaches love’.