Paint the Buttons!

“How do you expect me to paint a portrait of Stalin?” he asked, irritated. “First of all, I’ve never seen him, and I don’t remember what he looks like, other than the fact that he wears a uniform with lots of big buttons on the front, and a cap, and he has a big moustache.”
(Pablo Picasso, quoted by Françoise Gilot)

<<Comment voulez-vous que je fasse un portrait de Staline?>> demanda-t-il avec irritation. <<D’abord, je ne l’ai jamais vu, et je ne me rappelle pas à quoi il ressemble, si ce n’est qu’il a un uniforme plein de gros boutons devant, une casquette, et une grande moustache.>>
(Pablo Picasso cité par Françoise Gilot)

From Annie Cohen-Solal, Un étranger nommé Picasso, translated from the French by Sam Taylor as Picasso the Foreigner: An Artist in France, 1900–1973.

(c) 2023 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

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About JMN

I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.
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3 Responses to Paint the Buttons!

  1. christinenovalarue's avatar christinenovalarue says:

    🖤🤍

    Liked by 1 person

  2. And Picasso was a Communist too… snigger, snigger! Hope you’re well, Jim. Sorry I haven’t been around WordPress Place much of late. I read and skimmed a few books. Discovered Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead! Some fine philosophy and ideas put forward by the author. And now have begun Atlas Shrugged. All 1000 pages!

    Liked by 1 person

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