“The maestro’s villa was a photographer’s nightmare, with his boisterous children bicycling through vast rooms already crowded with canvases. I eagerly accepted Picasso’s alternate suggestion to meet later in Vallauris at his ceramics gallery. “He will never be here” the gallery owner commented, when my assistant and two hundred pounds of equipment arrived. “He says the same thing to every photographer”. To everyone’s amazement the “old lion” not only kept his appointment with me but was prompt and wore a new shirt. He could partially view himself in my large format lens and intuitively moved to complete the composition”
~ Yousuf Karsh
(1908-2002)
“For those who know how to read, I have painted my autobiography”
~ Pablo Picasso
(1881-1973)
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the death of without doubt the 20th Century’s greatest artist. He was a complex and endlessly fascinating force of nature and it is easy to understand why so many great photographers from Penn to David Douglas Duncan to Lartigue to Doisneau all wanted to photograph him. He declined so many but he knew of Karsh’s immense body of work and agreed to sit for him. It was a meeting of equals and Picasso knew this would be no ordinary session. It was something special and he turned up in a new shirt and put on the final touch, a really beautiful watch. Maybe one of our knowledgeable watch collector readers can identify who made it for me. It is one of the greatest portraits ever taken of him and Karsh’s words inform us how seriously Picasso took the occasion, even adding his own artistic visual precision to make sure his body was in perfect balance to his powerful and beautiful ceramic creation.
