9 paintings chosen with precision

The works, all of which were produced during the war, showed a certain aggressiveness and deconstruction that tied into the style of the American abstract expressionists. Brassaï describes how, during his conversation with Picasso, Kootz mumbled as he looked at the paintings: "It's not abstract enough!" The most subversive of these works were four portraits of Dora Maar with a deconstructed face: the woman's head merged with the sheep's skull she held in her arms [Z.IX, 352], and a lovely geometric portrait of Françoise Gilot as a woman-flower [Z. XIV, 160]. The series is completed with a more classical portrait of Dora Maar [Z.XI, 107], the portrait of a sailor [Z.XIII, 167], a rooster [ Z. XIII, 48] and a still life, Tomato Plant [Z.XIV, 27], all of which are reproduced in Sidney Janis's book. Brassaï was to discover several years later that this book had helped Kootz to contact collectors in advance, reselling some of the pieces before he had actually bought them himself, as Kootz would confirm in a letter to Picasso after returning from Paris:

«…I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with you and in looking at your paintings and sculpture. It was a real treat that I had long hoped for. The reception to my returning by plane with nine Picassos was simply sensational. Photographers and reporters met me, and the publicity will be great. I shall bring you clippings of everything when I return. I showed the pictures to Mary Callery today, and she liked them enormously. I’ve already sold two of them, and hope to have several more sold before the exhibition opens on the 27^th…"[i] Kootz's enthusiastic and even boastful tone in his letters to Picasso may have involved some exaggeration, as part of the dealer's effort to secure exclusive rights for the sale of Picasso's works in the United States. On January 22, 1947, he wrote to the artist: "Every dealer in town is envious of me, and not too friendly[DB1] (including Rosenberg and Dudensing)."[ii] Nevertheless, the American press was equally effusive. As the January 31, 1947 issue of the New York Sun described it, "This is a triumph indeed–for Sam Kootz. No others appreciate it quite so much as the directors of the rival galleries scattered east and west on 57th street, all of whom would have liked to have had the show themselves,"[iii] while the New York Times reported on February 2, 1947 that "The Picasso show at the Kootz is having a succès fou…seven of the nine pictures are sold…"[iv] The show truly appears to have been the major art event of early 1947, and everyone wondered how Kootz had managed to import these previously unknown pieces during a truly discouraging period in terms of French customs. As far as the sales of the works were concerned, nothing could have been easier. The January 29, 1947 issue of the New York Times mentioned that the prices ranged from $3,500 to $20,000, fairly high at the time, particularly for pieces whose style was somewhat disconcerting.

[i] Brassaï, p. 377, and letter from Sam Kootz to Picasso, January 13, 1947, mistakenly dated 1946, Archives Musée Picasso, Paris.

[ii] Letter from Sam Kootz to Picasso, January 22, 1947, Archives Musée Picasso, Paris.

[iii] New York Sun, January 31, 1947, Henry McBride, "New Picassos arrive."

[iv] New York Times, February 2, 1947, Edward Alden Jewell, "Chiefly Modernism, Recent French Paintings at the Whitney – Pennsylvania Annual – Late Picasso."

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Summary