I also went to see the exhibition, but on a totally different day from old Hermie. The interesting thing is that I heard the exact comment:

“You must be joking, my daughter can draw better pictures than that.” – Those exact words! I remember it clearly, because I thought the guy was a fool.

Sure, even I can draw things on the level that Picasso did, but I didn’t, still don’t, and never will have the same ability to see things from all the different angles and perspectives and be able to put it on paper so that others can see what he saw. And I would also never have thought of doing it ever in my life had I never gone to look or study his paintings. You do get crap art though and, having grown up in Grahamstown, I’ve seen a lot of it. But the crap art never makes it, it allways dies out. So surely you have to ask yourself, “If this painting is worth R20 million, what am I missing?” You will then look a little deeper and hopefully find something that speaks to you.

Something else I thought of. Is this the same guy? Could it be that this guy visits the exhibition every day, and makes that comment to see if he can provoke people? Or does he actually love Picasso so much that he goes to the exhibition every day and states in amazement, “This is incredible, even my daughter could draw this, but what feeling! What mysterious grace! This is powerful, this is it, this is art.” Could this be the true feelings of the mysterious visitor? Or, is it the ghost of Picasso that could be whispering in your ear? Still trying to find peace with his work, and still hating it? You never know…