LIFE

Peter Robins in The Guardian writes today... "Oh, and you already knew that the complete run of Life magazine is available on Google Books, didn't you? So I haven't just written off your afternoon? Good."

Pshaw! How could I resist looking up the issue of Life published on the day I was born?

One of the main feature articles concerned the Picasso exhibition then touring the United States.

We read...

"Picasso if 58. He looks younger, often works long hours at night. Considered the world's most prolific artist, he has turned out more than 4,000 pictures. Today a good Picasso my bring as much as $25,000."

Just for reference, Garcon a la pipe, painted in 1905 when Picasso was just 24, was sold in 2004 for a sum equal to $119,400,000 (adjusted for 2010). Many art critics have stated that the painting's high sale price had much more to do with the artist's name than with the merit or historical importance of the painting.

Personally I find the painting quite agreeable in a chocolate-box kind of way.

Now... I wonder what was in Life Magazine on the week out family landed on American shores in 1955...