Andrew Taylor on the Business of Arts & Culture
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Blending the vacuous and the sublime
  Posted: April 1, 2004
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The Entertainment Channel: First of all, we loved 'Lady with a Fan.'

Picasso: Thank you. People seem to be very excited by the painting, and the test scores have been great.

E.C.: What was it like painting 'Lady with a Fan'?

Picasso: Very, very exciting. I was excited by the prospect of painting it and working with so many exciting people, the paint people, the canvas stretcher...

E.C.: So it was a very exciting project for you.

Picasso: Yes, I was really excited. Sometimes I was more excited, and sometimes I was less excited...

E.C.: But you were always excited?

Picasso: Oh, yes, always excited. Thatıs a good way to put it.

Marketing works of great genius through the media of entertainment and celebrity can certainly be a bizarre fit, sometimes. The inevitable result is a conversation about the process of the art, rather than the art itself. Martin offers an elegant parody of that very point, with the perfect closer:

E.C.: Thank you, Pablo Picasso. (Turns to camera) 'Lady with a Fan' can be seen at the National Gallery for the next one thousand or so years.