My Grandfather's Gallery: A Family Memoir of Art and War by Sinclair Anne

Author:Sinclair, Anne [Sinclair, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780374711795
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published: 2014-09-15T16:00:00+00:00

The meeting between Paul and Picasso took place that summer before the end of the First World War. The Rosenbergs had taken a villa in Biarritz, a few hundred yards away from the one owned by the Errázuriz family. Also nearby was Georges Wildenstein, friend and colleague. In fact, the entire Parisian art world convened at the home of Mme Errázurriz, La Mimoseraie. Eventually a verbal agreement was reached: Paul would become Picasso’s representative in France and Europe, and Wildenstein would assume that role in America, where he had already established a gallery. But Wildenstein remained in the background, and when the two dealers fell out in 1932, Paul became Picasso’s international representative and remained so until the end of the war. No actual contract was signed, but Paul was given première vue, or the right of first refusal, on Picasso’s works. This was a model to which he later returned, first with Braque, then Matisse.

That summer marked a milestone in the family, for both good and ill. The positive was the freedom enjoyed by Paul and Picasso to develop their business dealings and personal friendship. The downside was the deterioration of the relationship between the Rosenberg and Wildenstein families.

From that time onward there was a very warm bond between Picasso and Paul. The painter savored the peace of mind that came from his contract with Léonce’s brother; he saw the possibility of escaping the lure of cubism, which Paul wasn’t so keen on. Picasso knew that if he showed his work at the Galerie Rosenberg, he wouldn’t be cataloged as just another avant-garde painter but would win his place in the company of masters of the century just past.

Picasso understood early on the connections that existed between artistic creation and the marketplace, and he sought to impose careful control over the exhibition of his works. As Roland Penrose writes, “Picasso’s friendship with Paul Rosenberg was increased by the dealer’s usefulness as a protector of his interests and the organizer of exhibitions in his fashionable Gallery.”6

Picasso was thrilled to find a dealer who grasped his desire to transcend cubism. Paul’s genius lay in his ability to effectively juxtapose Picasso and Turner, Monet and Delacroix. But Picasso was not the only one to have been guided in that direction by his dealer. Paul took the same approach with Matisse. As for Braque, with Paul as his dealer, he moved from cubism to … Braque. Paul encouraged all his artists to reintroduce the subject into their painting, even in abstract works. His sense of aesthetics aligned with his commercial instincts, and time ultimately proved him right.

For the first Picasso exhibition at my grandfather’s gallery, in October 1919, it was Picasso who personally paid for and designed the invitation to the opening. Both men saw this exhibition as representing a break with Picasso’s previous style: there was not a single cubist work to be found among the 167 drawings and watercolors whose variety delighted visitors to the exhibition.

By selecting these particular works, both

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