Pablo Picasso Quotes
Painter
Born On
1881-10-25Died On
1973-04-08Birth Place
Málaga, SpainDeath Place
MouginsBirth Sign
scorpioFather
Don José Ruiz y BlascoMother
María Picasso y LópezSpouse
Jacqueline Roque, Olga KhokhlovaNationality
Spanish
Spanish Cubist painter, Picasso was known to have shared a long-standing close association with Russian-French artist, Marc Zakharovich Chagall, until a rendezvous in 1964. Pablo was meeting Chagall for dinner, at the latter's residence in France. During the meeting, the Spanish genius asked his friend when the latter was planning to return to Russia. The host replied, "After you. I hear you are greatly loved there but not your work. You try to make it there and I'll wait and see how you do." What Chagall was referring to was the fact that Picasso had gained fame in Russia only because he was a Communist. For obvious reasons, the Russian artist's reply didn't go down too well with Picasso and a verbal tiff ensued between the two friends. Pablo said, "I guess with you it's a question of business. You won't go unless there's money in it." Though Chagall was supposedly grinning, he wasn't quite happy with the remark. Thus, this episode marked the end of the strong bond these two titans had shared for so many years. These men were apparently asked much later as to what they thought of each other's works. According to Picasso's lover, Fran'oise Gilot, the painter believed, "When Henri Matisse dies, Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is. I'm not crazy about his roosters and asses and flying violinists, and all the folklore, but his canvases are really painted, not just thrown together. Some of the last things he's done in Vence (where Matisse painted his late frescos in the chapel) convince me that there's never been anybody since Renoir who has the feeling for light that Chagall has." Wondering what opinion the Russian virtuoso held? "What a genius, that Picasso. It's a pity he doesn't paint."
