Truth and fiction about Pablo Picasso: how the artist was arrested for stealing the Mona Lisa, and why women fought over him

2023 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 13:10

In the life of the famous artist, so many incredible stories happened that now it is extremely difficult to establish which of them actually happened. He himself was prone to hoaxes and each time presented the same fact in a new way, adding new details. With name Pablo Picasso so many myths are connected that many real stories sound like fables.

Mysterious stories have haunted Picasso since his birth. Since the newborn did not scream or cry, everyone assumed that the boy was born dead. His uncle Salvador resorted to a very unusual method of resuscitation: he breathed cigar smoke into the child's face, he winced and screamed. Whether all this actually happened - no one knows, but the artist himself usually told this story exactly and added that for this reason he never parted with cigarettes all his life.

They say that Picasso's real name is impossible to remember or pronounce. Indeed, in accordance with Spanish tradition, at baptism, a child was given a series of names of saints and relatives of the family. The artist's full name is Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuseno Maria de los Remedios Crispin Crispignano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz and Picasso.

His mother played an important role in the creation of myths about Picasso. She repeatedly repeated: "He was so beautiful, like an angel and a demon at the same time, that it was difficult to look away from him." In the meantime, my father was creating another legend - about the early manifestation of the prodigy's talent. They say that Picasso learned to paint earlier than to speak, and when the boy was 13 years old, his first exhibition was organized, and his father - a failed artist and the first painting teacher - gave his son his brushes and admitted that he had outgrown him in skill … It was true that the boy really wrote his first picture at the age of 9, but it was difficult to call him a child prodigy: even by the time he graduated from school, he could hardly read and count.

In one, Picasso's mother certainly did not exaggerate: "With my son, who was created only for himself and for no one else, no woman can be happy." The artist had many mistresses, and he treated them quite cruelly and even showed sadistic inclinations. As soon as a woman got sick or became pregnant, he immediately lost interest in her. And when Maria-Teresa Walter and Dora Maar presented him with a choice - either one or the other - he invited the women to figure out for themselves who to leave. A real fight broke out between them, and Picasso later called this moment one of the most beautiful memories of his life and dedicated the painting "Birds in a Cage" to him. Two of his mistresses committed suicide: Maria-Teresa Walter hanged herself 4 years after his death, and Jacqueline Roque went to a monastery and shot herself 13 years later.

For many years, Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall had a friendship. But one day at dinner, Picasso had the imprudence to ask when Chagall was going to return to Russia. He was not taken aback: “Immediately after you. I heard they love you very much there. The same cannot be said about your works. Try to work there, and I'll see how you do it. " Picasso flared: “I suppose in your case this is a matter of business. You will not go there unless money is involved. " This is where the story of friendship between the two great artists ended.

Once Picasso, in a conversation with his friend, the poet G. Apollinaire, said that the Louvre should have been set on fire. And in 1911, da Vinci's painting "Mona Lisa" was stolen from the museum. Apollinaire, without thinking twice, pointed to the artist as a possible kidnapper. Togo was summoned for interrogation, and rumors spread throughout the city about Picasso's involvement in this theft. Of course, later it turned out that he had nothing to do with this, but the myth remained in history.

They say the artist had many strange phobias. He did not like to have a haircut and did not trust this work to hairdressers: he cut his hair himself, and kept the cut hair as a divine part of himself. In addition, Picasso was afraid to join the army, he was afraid to get cancer, he was afraid to be ridiculed because of his disproportionate figure.

Picasso is called one of the most expensive artists in the world, and this is no exaggeration. In 2008, the sales of his paintings totaled $ 262 million. In 2010, the painting "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" was sold for 106, 482 million dollars. Having become a millionaire during his lifetime, Picasso never lent anyone or did charity work.

A rare photos of Pablo Picasso from the archive of the photojournalist Life take you one step closer to solving the mystery of the identity of one of the most mysterious artists in history