Reader Daniel Geduld adds,

I just thought you might like to know that despite their reputation as a place to find deals, the Costco's Picasso drawing is ludicrously overpriced. In his later life, Picasso became the most obnoxious sort of celebrity- one who uses his fame to never have to pay for anything. He used to make these little sketches, 10 to 12 a day, and tried to pass them off to pay for his luxurious lifestyle. More than one very expensive restaurant was conned into receiving one of these in exchange for a banquet for Picasso and his friends.

Currently, you can get a much larger and, in my opinion, more interesting Picasso on eBay for 250 British pounds. Link. There are also endlessly available hand-signed picasso lithographs which can be bought on eBay for a few hundred dollars. Now if Costco had something from the blue period, I'd be impressed.

In regard to the comment made by the reader about Picasso making sketches to use as currency: John Lovitz played the part of Picasso in a Saturday Night Live sketch where he tries to pay for everything by sketching on napkins. I saw the sketch a while back and thought it was funny, but didn't realize how true it was.

posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:19:17 AM permalink | Other blogs' comments