@Stabby McStabberson: Oh for sure. I just don't know if it's $32-million-well-deserved. It's the reputation they're buying, not the art. Which is fascinating to think about, but weird as well. It's clear that the reputation is deserved, I think, but Picasso as an idea is so much bigger than his art, which is kind of neat/weird/interesting
@swedishfishing: That is a fascinating idea, actually. What is the value of reputation/Artist as Idea, and how does it in turn serve the person who paid $32 million to get it, via a painting?
@Stabby McStabberson: Well, you know, we purchase something because it serves us in some way. A hat that keeps us warm or makes us fetching, a book that entertains or gets us through that class, a car that brings us places or gets us the looks we want on the street. Art is presumably purchased to serve the spirit, or decorate a space, or... in this case, it quite possibly serves some other need, and that's my question. What need is served when you buy the actual thing, for $32 million dollars, but what you're really buying is the man's name, or (as swedishfishing pointed out) the "idea" of Picasso? If that makes sense.
@swedishfishing: I was just talking about a similar thing regarding the writings of Abraham Lincoln. I can read the text almost anywhere on earth, and probably more clearly, but I can't tell you how thrilling it would be for me to hold the piece of paper on which he wrote the words and read them in his hand. It's something well beyond the thoughts he expressed, and I'm kind of getting goosebumps just thinking about it!
I often teach Nietzsche and use Picasso as an example of an ubermensch, not in life in general but in painting. He had mastered the classical styles when he was a teenager/in his early days and then he deliberately broke the rules. And when I look at paintings like this, it makes me so happy that the rules were broken and a new set of aesthetic values were created. Because this portrait? This portrait is just beautiful.
@laetitiae: Yeah, it kinda drives me nuts when my dad (the same one mentioned above) makes comments like. "Ugh, his early stuff is nice, why did he have to go an make that crazy crap."
Well, pops did pay for my degree in Art, and entertains my protests at such statements. Yet, he refused to go to the Picasso museum after my urging.
That picture is terrible. I know a guy down by the mall who can do your exact likeness in charcoal in like, 5 minutes, plus he can do you riding a dune buggy.
Can you believe it that Vogue at one time was one of the first magazines to publish photos of concentration camps? I love Lee Miller's work, I saw a beautiful exhibit many years ago, which was opened by her son, who still spoke lovingly of his mother, inspite of the difficulties growing up with her.
She was my first avatar when I signed up to Jez. I find it hard to think of a cooler human being who has ever walked the planet. Except for The Fonz, of course.
After seeing her in "Blood of a Poet" (where it's obvious why the Perfect Muse title adhered to her), I read up on her relationship with Man Ray, for starters. And as tempestuous as that was, it might be the least interesting thing about her.
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@swedishfishing: I was just talking about a similar thing regarding the writings of Abraham Lincoln. I can read the text almost anywhere on earth, and probably more clearly, but I can't tell you how thrilling it would be for me to hold the piece of paper on which he wrote the words and read them in his hand. It's something well beyond the thoughts he expressed, and I'm kind of getting goosebumps just thinking about it!
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Well, pops did pay for my degree in Art, and entertains my protests at such statements. Yet, he refused to go to the Picasso museum after my urging.
He has no appreciation for the "Modern" art.
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It will show her with a huge smile on her face, swimming in money (like the character did at the beginning of Duck Tales).
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Though, 20 years later, it would turn you richer beyond your wildest dreams. Fair trade-off?
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Balling out of control - I am doing it wrong.
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(Oh yeah, and pay for my expensive education; house, clothe and feed me; love and care for our family....)
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