Professional reconciliation with Kahnweiler and the difficulties of Kootz
Although the exact date of the artist's reconciliation with Kahnweiler remains unknown, the latter held the Picasso, Œuvres de Provence, 1945-1948 exhibition at his gallery in October 1948, featuring close to sixty paintings, drawings, and sculptures, which appears to suggest that the two men renewed their exclusive representation agreement sometime in the summer of 1948–an agreement that Kahnweiler never disclosed. This coincided with Kootz's withdrawal, although he did not disappear entirely from the scene, continuing to write to Picasso and work for him. In October, Kootz told the artist about a visit to Texas, where he was organizing a Picasso exhibition; he hoped to reach a wealthy audience, but lamented the Texans' lack of interest in modern art and in culture in general. The exorbitant prices that Kootz had paid in order to have the Picassos may have been the reason for the dealer's enthusiasm. From 1949 on, they drifted apart somewhat, without losing contact entirely. In a letter dated May 2, 1949, Kootz told Picasso that he felt disappointed by the artist's attitude during his last visits in January and March, and justified the poor sales mentioning the large number of paintings he had in stock during a particularly bad period for all art dealers. "Curt Valentin’s show of smaller things will have shown you that condition, in that he had no great sales success."[i] Given this uncertain situation, Kootz voiced his wish to reopen a gallery in order to broaden his clientele–probably intending to feature other artists as well–and asked Picasso for a more specific commitment to their partnership. The artist, who had renewed his agreement with Kahnweiler, did not burn his bridges with Kootz. Moreover, the famous exchange of an American convertible for a Picasso still life took place in 1949. Although the story became a legend, little evidence has survived. The only witness we have is another art dealer, Aimé Maeght, who reported that the car was shipped to Paris, not to southern France, in 1949, not 1947, which had occasionally been claimed: "Sam Kootz was a New York art dealer straight out of a comic strip: dollar bills spilling out of his breast pocket, hilarious repartee, and surprising work methods (parking a brand new Oldsmobile under Picasso's windows at Rue des Grands Augustins, didn't he hand the artist the keys in exchange for a still life, and walk off with it nonchalantly as Louis Carré looked on in amazement?)"[ii] The piece in question, Cock and Knife, 1947 [Z. XV, 41] was first shown at the Kootz gallery at 600 Madison Avenue in the group show "The Birds and the Beast" from October 25 to November 12, 1949, alongside American artists William Baziotes and Robert Motherwell, but also Braque and Miró, and was sold to collector Victor Ganz during the exhibition. Several months later, Kootz rekindled this opposition with the painting Reclining Woman, from 1941 [Z. XI, 285] illustrating the cover of the catalogue for the group show "Black on White Paintings by European and American Artists" held from February 28 to March 20, 1950, which juxtaposed modern French painters such as Dubuffet, Mondrian, and Miró with the young American artists De Kooning, Hofmann, and Motherwell, to name just a few. Although Kootz's aim was to legitimize modern American art, he had also hoped to buy more works from Picasso, and would have to wait until 1956 to hold another solo show of the artist's works. Towards the end of 1948, Picasso had finally achieved what he was after: he had succeeded in having Kahnweiler make concessions regarding the prices, and therefore no longer had a need for Kootz, as Françoise Gilot recalls: "That got Kahnweiler off the fence. He decided to start buying again and drew up a contract–at Pablo's price–by which Pablo agreed not to sell directly to any dealer other than Kahnweiler. But Pablo had grown rather fond of Kootz and from time to time he would say, "I'd like Kootz to have that painting." When Kootz came to call, Pablo would tell him to go to Kahnweiler and pick up the painting he had set aside for him."[iii]
Robert Capa, Paul in front of Picasso's oldsmobile, Vallauris.
Pablo Picasso, Poultry and knife on a table, March 21, 1947.
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Summary
Robert Capa, Paul in front of Picasso's oldsmobile, Vallauris.
Pablo Picasso, Poultry and knife on a table, March 21, 1947.