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Pablo Picasso about Christeas’ drawings “Strong, very strong work,” Paris 1967-1969
I was short on money and, therefore, short on art materials, but poverty breeds ingenuity. I made my drawings using coffee mud, chocolate chips, collage, scrapes of paint, and pencil or pen on acid paper or aluminum foil from chocolate wrappers.
This is the work the great master Pablo Picasso saw and said, “Strong, very strong work.” I kept the drawings with me, always trying to figure out what he saw in my drawings.
I now realize that the Great Master Pablo Picasso saw the human soul in my work. With just a few pencil lines on a piece of paper, I had captured its truth in my drawings,
I was looking for a friend’s studio around Gar de Lyon when I saw a private showing of the master’s erotic drawings. The lovely lady in charge let me in. I was deep in my thoughts, communicating various energies from the master’s powerful work, when I felt the center of their energy behind me and over my left shoulder. I turned; the Great Master Pablo Picasso was observing me. We talked, and I was taken into another room with work only for selected eyes. Priceless does not begin to describe what I saw in that room. At this time in my life, my thoughts were filled with the dictatorship in Greece, and I was at a personal loss. I was on the run with no money, country, or friends. I thought if I was to die at that moment, it was OK with me!
I met the great master again in a coffee shop at St. Germain and showed him some of my drawings. I looked at his smile, which grew with every piece of paper he flipped over. He said: “Strong, very strong work.” His approval made me feel like I had just graduated with honors from every art school in our galaxy. It was as good as it gets. If that was not enough, he paid for lunch. Thanks, my friend.
