Jeffrey Wescott
Jul 10, 2017 · 1 min read

Bob, I think your understanding of Picasso’s life and work leaves much to be desired. The notion of “singular genius” (if I understand your meaning, that which one is born with, or touched by God with, that sets him apart from others) relies too much on outdated attitudes about creativity. Second, Picasso was not “well rewarded” [sic] in both honors and cash for the first fifty years of his life. Only after WWII, with its attendant boom in incomes and upwardly-mobile appetites for art, did he begin “Picasso, Inc.” Third, as others have pointed out, money is not the point; in fact, offering an artist more money for his or her work can be a disincentive, as such an offer would reek of philistinism. Zat Rana’s piece, though it lacks consistency, does ring true about Picasso in this regard: the man was a bull when it came to willpower. Nothing — not wives, mistresses, children, fame, money, or illness — ever prevented him from pursuing his work.

If I might recommend a book, Howard Gardner’s “Creative Minds” has a chapter on Picasso as a genuine creator and helped me understand how he turned the adversity of his sister’s death — and other terrible tragedies — to his own will.

    Jeffrey Wescott

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