Sir: The interesting articles by Giles Auty on modern art
reminded me of a report in the German investor's magazine Effecten- spiegel of 22 December 1988 of a startling speech by Picasso in Madrid on 2 May 1952. I have translated it into English for the benefit of those interested. Picasso expressed a poor opinion of modern art in general and his own in particular.
He said: 'Since art is no longer the pre- serve of the best people, the artist can use his talent for all the whims and wanderings of his imagination. The populace finds nei- ther solace nor uplift in art. The smart- Alicks, the rich, the leisured idlers and the ostentatious, however, look for novelty, rar- ity, eccentricity and repulsiveness.
`Since Cubism, yes, even earlier, I myself have satisfied all these critics with the numerous jokes which I thought out, and which they admired all the more, the less they understood them.
`By these trifles, these puzzles and arabesques I have rapidly made myself famous. And fame, for the artist, means sale, capital, riches. Today, I am not only famous, but also rich.
`When I am alone with myself, however, I cannot regard myself as an artist. In the strict sense of the word. The great painters were Giotto, Rembrandt and Goya.
`I am only a joker who has understood his epoch and has extracted all he possibly could from the stupidity, greed and vanity of his contempories.'
George Odgers
2800 Bremen 1, Germany
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