In the year of 1881, in southern Spain, one baby in particular began to usher his first words. ‘Piz, piz’ the little one cried out. ‘Strange’, his parents may have thought, ‘why are these my child’s first words?’
To those unfamiliar with Spanish, the baby was not rudely informing everyone that he needed to urinate. On the contrary, well according to his mother at least, what he was saying were the words ‘pencil’. Of course, these may have continued to remain a rather strange set of first words if this child were not to become some kind of artist. It is a bit like how ‘Bear’ Grylls (a nickname he was given when he was just ten months old) was surely destined to become an adventurer in the same vein that Usain ‘Bolt’ was bound to become a runner. Yet this child was not only seemingly destined to become just any kind of artist but one of the most renowned creatives of all time. For here, laying in his crib in Andalusia, was Pablo Picasso.
Although Picasso is best known as being the founder, or co-founder if you count the works of Georges Braque, of Cubism and for his marvellous paintings that followed, such as ‘Guernica’ and ‘Girl before a Mirror’, there are much smaller works of his which are seldom found within the realm of general knowledge. Throughout his adulthood until his death, Picasso doodled wherever he went, drawing and painting a variety of small, improvised pieces on to whatever materials he could find, from sketchbooks and newspapers to menus and wallpapers. Out of all these materials he doodled upon however, what was said to be most sought after were the pieceshe quickly sketched out in hotels and restaurants. There are many stories for instance, although unverified, of restaurateurs and hoteliers asking Picasso to draw upon tissues, napkins and tablecloths in lieu of paying for his bill or lodgings. This is how one such tale is alleged to have gone:
Picasso, sitting at a table after having just finished his meal at a restaurant, is asked by the restaurant owner if he will quickly doodle on a napkin. Picasso doodles on the piece of material, signs it and says ‘That’ll be thirty thousand dollars’.
In shock, the restaurateur replies ‘Thirty thousand dollars? That took you only five seconds to create!’
‘No it did not’ Picasso says sternly. ‘It took me a lifetime’.
Of course, as is the case with most quotes, this is most likely just an internet myth. After all, it is much easier to get people to adhere to the principles you preach if you claim someone famous endorsed them first. Yet not all such instances are untrue and there are plenty of Picasso’s doodles out there, some of which are still being found.
In 2008 for example, an electrician discovered a plethora of Picasso’s doodles and smaller works which were valued between fifty and sixty million dollars. Though, unfortunately for the electrician at least, Picasso’s family were able to successfully claim that the works belonged to them and so were able to ensure that any money made from sales were theirs. Whilst this was perhaps the most prolific case however, these were not the most recent of Picasso’s works to be found. In fact, the last doodle to be uncovered was in the summer of 2021 – so if you are heading out to Europe anytime soon then make sure to keep an eye out!
Most of Picasso’s doodles are extremely difficult to verify. For whilst there are many reputable sources that claim his sketches have been sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds (as discussed in this article), authentic images of them are hard to come by. Indeed, most you will find online are fakes. Perhaps Picasso’s family are keen to prevent more accurate forgeries from being created and so are reluctant to release authentic images of his works, though this is only a guess.
One verifiable ‘doodle’ of his that can be found on the web is one that was sold in 2007 for a whopping £250,000.
Though, measuring at 8ft by 5ft it is more akin to a mural than a doodle. Instead, I thought it would be more interesting to include one of the many pieces out there that have been speculated to be Picasso’s but has yet to be authenticated.
***In the 1970s, whilst travelling across Spain, a lady was
sold a scrap of paper with an interesting drawing on it. Later, noticing a familiar looking signature upon the piece, she decided to head to a few museums to get it verified.
As you may have begun to notice, the doodle in question was the one you can see above. Unfortunately for the lady, it has never been concluded whether the piece is a Picasso - though, it is doubtless to say that there are similarities both in terms of its signature and style.
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