Surviving Picasso Page #4

Ha! Algeria.

Another madwoman.

Get in the car!

No, I've made up my mind.

Get in the car!

Hey, get in the car! Come on!

Stop!

Stop!

Francoise!

Francoise!

I'm not going back

to that house.

Come here!

Come back!

Francoise!

I am not going back

to that house.

Wh-what's wrong?

You can't do this to...

you can't, mademoiselle.

Monsieur needs you.

L-let me go!

Get into the car!

Let me go!

Get into the car!

Let me go!

I wish I could wrap you

up in one of those tents

that Muslim women wear.

In Spain we believe that the

eye is like a sexual organ

and looking at

a woman can be rape.

Rape with the eye.

I want you to swear

that you will love me forever.

Swear before God.

But you don't believe in God.

Shh! Not in here.

Kneel.

Come on, kneel.

Kneel down.

Now, say it,

"I, francoise,

swear to love Picasso

"and only Picasso

"forever and ever.

Amen."

"I, francoise, swear

to love Picasso

"and only Picasso

"forever and ever.

Amen."

Good, now you've sworn it.

You can never run away

from me again.

Now, you swear, you swear.

Why did you run away?

Aren't you happy with me?

You can't pretend to be

the easiest person in the

world to get along with.

I'm a perfectly

straightforward character

with all my cards on the table.

But there are so many cards,

and some of them are

under the table, too.

And then suddenly they pop

up like Marie-therese,

and now who knows who

else is going to appear.

You think too much up here.

You shouldn't think up there,

you should feel down there.

You should have a child.

You should have my child,

then you'd learn how to feel.

You'd be a real woman.

You'd be my woman.

The exhibition's on the fourth.

I have to have my answer today.

I must tell my printer.

Who knows what this day

will bring

before the sun will set on it?

I've been here every

day this week,

and every day I hear

the same thing.

Well, perhaps tomorrow

will be different.

Where there is life, there's

always hope, my friend.

Hope is green and eternal.

Look, look, look,

I'm neither green nor eternal.

I-I don't know about

everybody else,

but I must get back

to New York.

I have a business to run.

And so have I.

My business is called Picasso.

I have to see him today.

It's imperative.

Imperative?

Imperative, that's right.

Why don't you try and get up?

No, no, don't.

Try!

Don't torture me! Go away.

I can't stand it, I can't

stand it any longer.

Of course not, without

your coffee and brioche.

What were you thinking of?

The man has to eat.

Yes, he's human.

Don't put it on the bed.

I'm... I'm going away, I must.

There's no other way out.

No, you'll feel

better in a minute.

I can't stand it any longer.

You know this is no life.

What am I doing here?

You know very well

I'm not doing anything.

Every day I work worse

than the day before.

And today you'll do

something you like.

Just get up and start

work and you'll see.

We've lit the stove.

The studio's all warm.

What makes you think today will

be any better than yesterday?

But yesterday was wonderful.

You finished your whole

series on the Pont Neuf.

Yeah, but is it any good?

Go and see for yourself.

No. It would only depress me.

But it's wonderful!

Kootz says he has to see you today.

It's imperative.

Ha! He said it was

imperative yesterday.

He said it was imperative

the day before.

He's making my life hell.

He says he has to

get back to America,

and kahnweiler is there, too.

They're sitting side

by side in the salon.

But they loathe each other.

Well, you go and tell them.

Tell them what?

I don't know.

Tell them Picasso

has a stomachache.

Well, it's true,

I have a stomachache.

Every time I inform my doctor,

he just shows me

his grandson's drawings.

If you get up,

you'd feel better.

Why don't you try?

I hate it when people

try to bully me.

It's particularly ugly

in a woman, francoise.

Hey!

Good morning.

Good afternoon.

Want a light?

Por favor.

Don't you have any matches?

No.

Sorry to keep you waiting.

Monsieur.

How do you do?

Bonjour, maitre.

Seor. Hello.

Buon giorno. I'm honored.

Jean-Claude, are you

here again today?

Madame.

Hello. Monsieur.

Pablo. Monsieur.

Madame, hello.

Kootz, what are you doing here?

No one told me.

Why didn't you tell me

he was here?

Francoise, keeping

Mr. Kootz waiting.

Come with me. I have

something to show you.

Good. Finally.

I'll be back.

Of course he didn't

even see me.

Mr. Kootz has come all

the way from New York.

Oh, the only reason kootz is

in Paris is to buy picassos.

He goes nowhere else,

sees no one else.

He doesn't even

go to the louvre.

He says it isn't

abstract enough for him.

Do you, uh,

do you think Picasso

will sell him something?

What? What will he sell him?

What has he got?

I'm sure he'll

show you very soon.

Oh!

Now, in New York I can sell

everything that you give me

in 5 minutes. Just like that.

How much?

For, ha ha.

For more than any painter

alive today.

More than Matisse?

Oh, more, more.

This is too...

this is wonderful.

You still have this, huh?

It's a braque.

I've had it for 30 years.

Well, m-Matisse has sent

a lot of new work,

but I keep telling them

in New York,

"wait till you see

the new picassos,

wait till you see

the new picassos."

I've got them all steamed up.

So, all this, all this is new?

Huh, well.

Ah, ah. Huh.

How many were you thinking of?

Uh, 9.

He wants 9 pictures.

If wishes were horses,

beggars would ride.

Sabartes loves old proverbs.

He's such an old woman.

9's impossible.

7? I... I can't go home

with less than 6.

What about my other dealers?

What about kahnweiler?

Kahnweiler?

Kahnweiler is still

on pre-war prices,

pre-world war I prices.

I am here to make

a serious offer.

Kahnweiler's my oldest dealer.

He bought when no one

else would spit at me.

Yes, but great art can't

be bought with sentiment.

You need something

more substantial.

Uh-huh?

I like your necktie.

Oh, thank you.

Is it American? Yes.

New York? Uh, saks fifth Avenue.

Oh.

Are you interested?

Am I interested?

I would...

I would have it shipped

the moment that,

uh, it was finished.

A painting can never

be finished.

Well, of... of course,

that's... that's what I meant.

Art is always in process.

I did... I didn't

mean to imply...

To finish a painting means to

destroy it, to rob it of its soul.

To give it the puntilla,

the coup de grace.

No, my friend, the day I finish a

painting, that day I'm finished.

I really like that necktie.

Then it would be my

pleasure to give it to you.

Hmm?

Here.

Huh?

Oh, thank you.

Oh.

Mr. Kahnweiler,

you're still here.

I'm so sorry. I can't think

what happened today,

why you've been kept

waiting so long.

Well, it amuses him to think

of me sitting out here,

wondering what he might be

selling to other dealers.

It's been his

favorite game with me

for the past 35 years.

Picasso:
Ok. See you tomorrow.

Kootz:
Well, I can change

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