Garbo's 'Picasso'

Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973) was a Andalusian-Spanish painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. As one of the most recognized figures in twentieth-century art. An oft-quoted tale is that Garbo had a Picasso of her own – hung upside down.

David Nash of Sotheby's, in Derek Reisfield's (Garbo's nephew) documentary on Garbo's apartment clarifies that she had a Picasso on loan for a while in the fifties but returned it – and that R was hung right side up on her living-room wall and Garbo purchased it in the early 1950s.

It was the painting La Vieille, painted circa 1903. Conversely, she easily divested herself of the Picasso when she became unhappy with it. “It was a little, early Picasso which was not terribly attractive and she was quite right to sell it,” David J. Nash, then an associate at Parke-Bernet, recalled. She conducted the entire transaction without speaking.

The painting La Vieille
 

The Painting

La Vieille, painted circa 1903, captures the essence of Picassos fascination with the impoverished life of the socioeconomic underclass that wandered the streets of Barcelona . The intimate canvas depicts a full-length figure of a forlorn elderly woman. Her hands are clasped below her bust, her body is hidden beneath her tattered cloak whose vertical draping hangs over her feet, and enable her to float slightly center left of the canvas, like a ghost in the darkness.

The agitated brush strokes contrast the dark and light shades of blue, which intensify the hopelessness of the woman and reflect the equal despondency Picasso felt for society. La vielle encapsulates Picassos view of sadness inherent in his work, If we demand sincerity of an artist, we must remember that sincerity is not to be found outside the realm of grief.

Truman Capote on Garbo and her four (!) Picassos

In the November 1972 issue of the Esquire , American writer Truman Capote talked about Garbo and her Picassos. He claimed that he was several times a guest in her New Yorker apartment and that he saw at least four (!) Picassos. Capote described her apartment as a “disconnected jumble” of chairs, tables and couches. “The overall impression is astonishing, but pleasant in a somewhat gaga way.”

The inference was that he had been there, which he had not. His source for the details was Garbo's friend Cecil Beaton, who had called Garbo's apartment “a dreadful hotchpotch of colours”. Garbo never knew that. “That little Mr Capote never came to this place,” she complained. “Truman Capote isn't first class, believe me,” she told Beaton. “Nobody criticizes people for their private life. That's each individual's own business.”

Did you know..?

In the late 1940s, Garbo wasassumed to be a serious art aficionado, but Mercedes de Acosta and Cecil Beaton thought otherwise after the summer evening in 1952 when they took her to the Paris apartment of Alice Toklas to see Gertrude Stein's early Picassos, including Young Girl with Basket of Flowers and Nude with Clasped Hands.

Toklas received them with great ceremony, seated her guests, and turned on the sidelights to show off the canvases. Without rising, Garbo took a cursory circular glance around the room and said, “Thank you very much.” No further comment. The visit ended a few minutes later. Toklas afterward characterized Garbo as “Mademoiselle Hamlet”.

Source

Barry Paris – Garbo
Karen Swenson – A Life Apart