12. Picasso on the beach

Art itself is an expression of one's thoughts and ideas, regardless of whether the artwork is a representation of one's surroundings or a mental picture. Art for the sake of art is a noble pursuit by passionate but usually penniless visionaries. They paint, etch, sculpt and build (as most traditional arts go). Their works are usually recognised long after their deaths, auction gavels ringing in the millions for some fortunate relative/collector. The artist's passion has become immortal.

Throw money into the equation and you get something else. There may be artists or would be artists just faking it for the money, lapping up an ‘appreciative’ but possibly deluded clientele. “Buy it now and it’ll be worth millions later” could be a line you might hear at an art gallery. Not always.

Art is subjective. Like Heidi says “One day you’re in, the next day you’re out” while Coco said “Fashion fades, only style remains the same.” Immortality is in the style. Find your own. Yes, we all want to be remembered in one way or another, in fame or infamy. Painters paint, authors write and the rest of us tag along hoping to be remembered for the way we lived our lives. In our own style.

What is the purpose of art? Looking at it, be it a painting or sculpture, should invoke a response. That is it I think. No response, no art. It could be a case of people not looking and just passing by, and hence not feeling anything. There’s art in all things –from the way lines criss-cross in a aerial view of a city to the way leaves wither to the crow’s feet on my father’s face. Art is everywhere we choose to find it. If Roy was just watching and reveling in Picasso’s work, he might find a glimmer of that feeling in the art he observed. He really didn’t need to think of the money or fame of possessing a Picasso original. Picasso is just another guy with deft hands and a great imagination. But what did Picasso want an observer to feel?

When the waters came and washed away the work of a genius, would it matter to the genius? I doubt. He had done his deed and given himself in that moment. Not to preserve the work forever but revel in its execution. To have an observer revel too.