01.31.07 Painting Fakes
Seth Godin relays a story told to him by a friend of Picasso…
I was staying with Picasso in his studio. Every day, dealers would come by to authenticate paintings they were trying to sell… they would ask the painter if the painting was real or a fake.
A dealer came by one day, Picasso glanced at it and without hesitating said, “fake.” Later that day, two more were identified as fakes.
The second day, a different dealer came by. Picasso hardly looked up. “Fake!” he bellowed.
After the dealer left, I couldn’t help myself. “Picasso, why did you say that painting was a fake? I was here, in this studio, last year when I saw you paint it.”
Picasso didn’t hesitate. He turned to me and said, “I often paint fakes.”
euphrony said:
I’d heard that story about Picasso before. Is this an example of artistic temperment, a man annoyed by his living success, or an admission that he did not like a goodly portion of what he produced? I’m not sure.