Man (In This Case, Picasso) Paints DogWhen forgotten Picassos aren’t turning up in the most unlikely places, they’re depicting the most unlikely subjects. A piece of dinnerware he painted on and gave to the photojournalist David Douglas Duncan, which Mr. Duncan has donated to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, may not compare to the cache of nearly 300 works that a French electrician says he was given by Picasso’s second wife. But the plate is noteworthy for what it depicts: a dachshund named Lump, owned by Mr. Duncan in the 1950s.
The Harry Ransom Center said on Wednesday that the plate was decorated by Picasso for Mr. Duncan at Picasso’s Villa La Californie in Cannes, France, on April 19, 1957 (and provided photographs of Picasso at work to corroborate the story). Mr. Duncan brought Lump to Picasso’s villa, and over lunch Picasso asked if the dog had ever had his own plate. When Mr. Duncan said no, Picasso picked up a nearby brush and proceeded to paint Lump on the plate Picasso had been eating from.
The plate will be displayed at the Harry Ransom Center starting Tuesday as part of its exhibition “Culture Unbound: Collecting in the Twenty-First Century.” The center said that similar plates bearing Picasso’s handiwork had sold for up to $90,000, though it has no plans to sell its latest donation.
