‘On Picasso’s Grotesque “Seated Woman in Blue Dress” Selling for $45 Million’ by Phillip Whidden The Society May 20, 2017 Art, Beauty, Poetry 7 Comments (The BBC story here for reference) If I were burdened with a lover who Looked crooked like this woman (woman?), I Would go as twisted as Picasso. Blue Lips, though, are what I’d paint to help me shy Away from her (or him?—can’t really tell), And if the her/him face looked so like dwarf Distorted body features, I would yell (With pretty words), “Please, honey, may I morph You into something else? We’ll have to part If I can’t paint you pretty. If I bloat You up as is, then who will buy the art? Look here. To show my love, I’ve slit your throat. ____They won’t believe you’re young as thirty one! ____Please may I change your looks, love, just for fun?” X X Phillip Whidden is a poet published in America, England, Scotland (and elsewhere) in book form, online, and in journals. He has also had an article on Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et Decorum est” published in The New Edinburgh Review. www.phillipwhidden.com NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. Trending now: 7 Responses David Hollywood May 21, 2017 I agree. Reply Hibah Shabkhez May 21, 2017 😀 Reply Bob McGinness May 22, 2017 “You’re so analytical. Sometimes you just have to let art…flow…over you.” (from The Big Chill) Reply David Hollywood May 22, 2017 Maybe we have! Reply Phillip Whidden July 6, 2017 Thanks for making a comment, Bob McGinness. I’m afraid I do not “get it.” Is it an attack on people who analyze art instead of “just” allowing it to flow over them? Reply Joseph S. Salemi May 22, 2017 The painting is an example of garbage art. The fact that it has been sold for 45 million dollars is merely a testament to the corruption of taste in the Western world that has gone on for over a century now. Consider the following: a painting by the talentless Basquiat, an overdosed drug addict whose work doesn’t even rise to the level of lavatory graffiti, has sold for over 100 million dollars just recently. Reply G. M. H. Thompson May 22, 2017 The art world’s completely crazy– I like a number of Piccasos, but you’d have to be blind to like this one. 45 million, are you kidding me?! This is why there will be no new rennaisance– the rich of today have no taste. Just look at the Koch Brothers– all that money, and they mostly only spend it on politics. What a terrible waste. And when they do serve as patrons to art, which is far too seldom considering their vast fortunes, they sponsor groteque, utterly unimaginative idols of post-modernity, such as a plaza and two fountains they built in front of the Met in 2014. These cockroaches are no aristocracy, they’re not even peasants. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Bob McGinness May 22, 2017 “You’re so analytical. Sometimes you just have to let art…flow…over you.” (from The Big Chill) Reply
Phillip Whidden July 6, 2017 Thanks for making a comment, Bob McGinness. I’m afraid I do not “get it.” Is it an attack on people who analyze art instead of “just” allowing it to flow over them? Reply
Joseph S. Salemi May 22, 2017 The painting is an example of garbage art. The fact that it has been sold for 45 million dollars is merely a testament to the corruption of taste in the Western world that has gone on for over a century now. Consider the following: a painting by the talentless Basquiat, an overdosed drug addict whose work doesn’t even rise to the level of lavatory graffiti, has sold for over 100 million dollars just recently. Reply
G. M. H. Thompson May 22, 2017 The art world’s completely crazy– I like a number of Piccasos, but you’d have to be blind to like this one. 45 million, are you kidding me?! This is why there will be no new rennaisance– the rich of today have no taste. Just look at the Koch Brothers– all that money, and they mostly only spend it on politics. What a terrible waste. And when they do serve as patrons to art, which is far too seldom considering their vast fortunes, they sponsor groteque, utterly unimaginative idols of post-modernity, such as a plaza and two fountains they built in front of the Met in 2014. These cockroaches are no aristocracy, they’re not even peasants. Reply
