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Much Ado About Nothing

Nov 04, 2014
by Caroline Miller
Aby Rosen, Picasso, Seargam's building, Showdown at the Four Seasons, Suzanna Andrews
2 Comments

Cries of alarm, protest and horror rattled New York elites recently when Aby Rosen, the man who owns the Seagram’s building, wanted to remove a wall hanging, originally a ballet theater backdrop, purportedly painted by Pablo Picasso.  The performance ended, the hanging landed as a decoration near the entrance to the 4 Seasons restaurant in the Seagram’s building and there it has hung for decades.  The new owner, however, wished to redecorate and as he neither owned the painting  – it belongs to an art council called the Conservancy – nor liked for it, he wanted it removed.  (“Showdown At The Four Seasons” by Suzanna Andrews, Vanity Fair, 10/2013 pgs. 248-253, 287-290)  Unfortunately, the Conservancy feared doing so would damage the painting and so objections reverberated throughout the art community, including Thomas Wolfe’s assessment that the  new owner was a “smug vulgarian” (Ibid pg. 252)

To the dismay of the aesthetes, the smug vulgarian held his ground.  “It’s my property and I can do what I want to,”  was his sentiment, and so the Conservancy scrambled to find a new home for the canvass which Christie’s auction house had appraised at 1.6 million dollars.  Despite the canvas’ presumed value, no buyers came forward and no museum would agree to display it.  Faced with a lack of alternatives, the Conservancy took Rosen to court.  They argued the backdrop was a valuable piece of New York history as well as an important art work  that would be destroyed if Seagram’s new owner were allowed to carry out his plans.   Rosen replied that the work had already been defaced when it was cut to size to be installed at Seagram’s and besides, he was certain Picasso hadn’t executed the painting but merely supervised its completion. 

 After much wrangling and hurt feelings, the two parties reached a settlement.  Rosen would pay for the Picasso to be removed and safely delivered to the New York Historical Society.  There, it would be permanently displayed and Rose could get on with his renovations. (Ibid pg.290.)  Much Ado about Nothing.

 Let’s be honest, the world is awash in Picasso’s. You will find him on pajamas and coffee mugs and planters, for example.  Why make a religion of him and cast non-believers as infidels?  At no time during all this sound and fury did anyone claim this particular backdrop  was a great work of art.  Certainly, when tested in the market, the market fell silent.  Now the backdrop  survives, not as a fine example of Picasso’s work, but as a piece of New York history.  Something of a come down, I suspect.

Picasso backdrop

(Courtesy of foxnews.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2 Comments
  1. Christine Webb November 4, 2014 at 7:28 am Reply
    Am left wondering how much all this ado cost someone? When two parties disagree to such an extent will it ever be possible to reach a middle point without spending thousands of dollars--money that quite likely could have been used to more advantage? Quite often, the desire to accumulate or keep ones money seems to be stronger than the desire to have or use common sense.
    • Caroline Miller November 4, 2014 at 8:12 am Reply
      As Puck observed in Midsummer Night's Dream, "What fools these mortals be."

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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