In the Russian -language segment of social networks, one can often find a self -critical quote, which the great Spanish artist allegedly said in the declining years. We checked whether Picasso said this.

This is what the text looks like so popular in social networks: “Many become artists for reasons that have little in common with art. The rich require new, original, scandalous. And I, starting from cubism, entertained these gentlemen with absurdities, and the less they understood, the more I had glory and money. Now I am known and very rich, but when I am alone with myself, I do not have the courage to see the artist in the great meaning of the word; I am just an entertainer for the public who understood time. It is bitter and painful, but it is truth ... "

It is further indicated that Picasso pronounced these words during the celebration of his anniversary (90 years) in 1971.

The quote received special distribution on Facebook, where it regularly causes hundreds reposts. It is found in others social networksas well as on different art portals. Historian Anatoly Lewandovsky included her in his preface to the book by Jean-Paul Krypel “The daily life of Montparnasas in the great era. 1905-1930 ".

By the time of his 90th anniversary, the artist and sculptor Pablo Picasso was not just a living legend-kings and presidents, singers and actors could envy his glory and authority. At the same time, the genius continued to actively create, which even more attracted public attention to his figure. And by the significant date (October 25, 1971), which, as many were aware, could be the last anniversary in the life of the master, artists and art historians around the world They prepared exhibitions, television and radio programs, as well as books about the famous Spaniard. One of the most large -scale expositions opened in the Louvre and coincided with time from visit Secretary General of the USSR Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev to France. Believe The Daily TelegraphWhen the Soviet leader was asked to share fresh impressions of Picasso's creations, Brezhnev replied: "He successfully came up with the use of a dove as a symbol of the world."

But Pablo Picasso himself did not see anything. The artist spent the last 12 years of his life in a villa in the town of Muzhen on the Cote d'Azur in the company of his second official wife Jacqueline Rock. According to the publication c The New York Times, residents of the neighboring town of Valloris, where he also managed to live at one time, on October 25 they arranged a festive party, which they were going to call the culprit of the occasion. However, Picasso terribly did not like reminders of his age, and therefore previously negatively spoke about celebrations on the occasion of his 80th anniversary and 85th anniversary. It also happened now. Picasso closed the shutters all over the house, ordered the workers to tell the guests that he was traveling, and completely ignored his own birthday. Even the delegation of the Picasso's sweet heart of the French Communist Party, which included the famous writer Louis Aragon, went to Paris after three days of unsuccessful attempts to get to the artist’s house. Dozens of paparazzi remained with nothing, directing their cameras towards the villa in anticipation of the cherished silhouette. Thus, Pablo Picasso did not utter any speeches in those days and, apparently, did not give an interview.

Where did the self -critical quote from Picasso come from then? Perhaps he said her before? Indeed, if in Russian (at least in this translation) it began to be published relatively recently, then in the West the recognition of the artist appears in the press long before 1971. For example, c article In The Washington Post of August 3, 1952, journalist Sterling North wrote: “Parisian newspapers are excited. This story was picked up by several American publications, including Quick. Having called himself the “entertainer of the public”, which is most exploited by the “stupidity, vanity and greed” of his contemporaries, Picasso recently admitted that he simply sought to please the masters and critics “new, strange, original, extravagant, scandalous [works] ... The less they understood them, the more they admired me.”

In subsequent years, other quotes from a sensational interview appeared in a number of art history publications. And in December 1968, the famous American magazine Life devoted to Picasso Double number, having placed there among other things a short confession of the master: “When I stay alone with myself, I do not have the courage to think about myself as an artist in the great and ancient sense of the word. Giotto, Titian, Rembrandt were great painters. I am just an entertainer for the public who understood his time and used stupidity, vanity, the greed of his contemporaries as best as possible. My recognition is bitter, more painful than it might seem, but its dignity is that it is sincere. ”

However, the above quote is somewhat contrasting with the impression that may form from some other Picasso interviews. The Spaniard never showed himself a particularly modest person. In particular, It is knownthat when the poet-heir of Paul Eluer said about him: “He writes as God or the Devil,” Picasso chose the first option: “I am God.” Confessional interview does not fit into this image. And no accident, because it is completely fictitious.

Back in 1931, a famous Italian writer, poet and literary critic Giovanni Papini He created the satirical novel "Gog". Her title hero is a diary, which is an interview with many famous personalities of his time. Many years later, in 1951, the already paralyzed and blind papini wrote a continuation of his short story called “Black Book. New Diary Gogh ". Among the heroes were Hitler, Marconi, Dali, Picasso and other celebrities. And although the Italian did not want to mislead anyone, his book was dismantled to quotes the most serious specialists. So, one of the statements of the pseudo-Frady was in an essay called "Unknown Freud"published in 1993. A similar fate was waiting for a fictional interview with Gog with Pablo Picasso. In the next, 1952, his translation was reprinted by Parisian newspapers, after which the aforementioned article in The Washington Post appeared. Four years later, Papini died, but his heritage continued to live an independent life. After the editorial office of Life magazine found out about the curious mistake made by its journalists, in January 1969 appeared refutation, which included the history of the origin of the quote.

Refutation in Life magazine about a false quote

However, it was too late. The quote continued to conquer the world and even now, in the digital age, excites the minds of numerous users of social networks. It is not known who was the first to bind her to the 90th anniversary of Pablo Picasso, but the fact remains: it belongs to the feather of the Italian writer of the first half of the 20th century Giovanni Papini.