[jimtorr]

Personally, I agree with Ayrton and the writer above. Minor genius in art, major genius in giving critics and buyers what they want. Reportedly, he despised them for their bad taste and gullibility.

[IronJack]

I would go one step farther in this heresy and suggest that, while Vincent van Gogh did some remarkably vibrant work, he has earned none of the abject fealty he commands today.

And while we're at it, Leonard Bernstein was a hack, Isadora Duncan was a wacked-out skank, and Andy Warhol should have spent his fifteen minutes in a dumpster. Don't get me started on Truman Captoe or Gore Vidal.

[Raymond Hendrix]

Picasso was pretty good at drawing random lines that mean nothinge except to those whose minds are deranged like his was. Looking deeper into his "art" however one does find a gteater depth of insanity and confusion.

[Skooz]

Pablo Picasso

Well some people try to pick up girls
And get called a-holes
This never happened to Pablo Picasso
He could walk down your street
And girls could not resist his stare and
So Pablo Picasso was never called an a-hole

Well the girls would turn the color
Of the avacado when he would drive
Down their street in his El Dorado
He could walk down you street
And girls could not resist his stare
Pablo Picasso never got called an a-hole
Not like you
Alright

Well he was only 5'3"
But girls could not resist his stare
Pablo Picasso never got called an a-hole
Not in New York

Oh well be not schmuck, be not abnoxious,
Be not bellbottom bummer or a-hole
Remember the story of Pablo Picasso
He could walk down your street
And girls could not resist his stare
Pablo Picasso was never called an a-hole
Alright this is it

Some people try to pick up girls
And they get called an a-hole
This never happened to Pablo Picasso
He could walk down your street
And girls could not resist his stare and so
Pablo Picasso was never called...

[Skooz]

"The girls could not resist his stare"

[Cicero]

Picasso was extremely talented and powerful. But much of his later work is cruel and brutal. In particular, he is noticeably brutal toward the women he paints. Some terms that come to mind are deconstruction, rape, and debasement. So the question is, can a painter be great if he is technically sophisticated and emotionally powerful but morally debased?

I don't think so, but then I'm in the minority on this one.

[Erasmus]

Pablo: "Es guano in Majorca."

Pedro: "Pablo, Picasso!"

[Right_Wing_Mole_In_Seattle]

For anyone who's interested:

Good Art, Bad Art: Pulling Back the Curtain

[Mr. Jeeves]

Jackson "Dropcloth" Pollock is the most egregious example of artistic quackery.