Photograph by Herbert List
5 Facts You Didn't Know About Pablo Picasso (Part 1)
In 1911, a man walked out of the Louvre Museum in Paris with a painting protruding from his jacket. The painting was da Vinci's Mona Lisa. The man who stole the painting remained a mystery. Finally, after weeks of searching the city, authorities brought in two suspects: a poet named Guillaume Apollinaire and a young artist named Pablo Picasso. While the two bohemians weren't saints, they certainly did not steal the Mona Lisa. The reason the French authorities went after them was because it became known that Apollinaire's assistant had stolen two African sculptures from the Louvre, and these works of art were gifted to Picasso. According to Norman Mailer's book, Portrait of Picasso as a Young Man, during the court hearing, Picasso was so shattered that he broke down and cried, marking one of the most humiliating moments of his life. Eventually, the judge let both men free. Years later, in 1914, the painting was finally found in an Italian home. The welcome news was short-lived, however, as the First World War broke out a few days later.
Comments