"He was a genius who is now being exploited outrageously."

March 23, 2016 6:59 PM

Pablo Picasso left more than 45,000 works when he died in 1973 (not to mention $1.3 million in gold). His estate is worth billions, and his heirs wage a constant battle to keep control.

The Picasso Administration has quarterly meetings, 300-page annual reports, and spends around a million dollars a year on lawyers. Its head is Claude Picasso, son of Pablo by his mistress, Françoise Gilot, herself an artist and (after leaving Picasso) the wife of Dr. Jonas Salk.

posted by Etrigan (20 comments total)

RIght, but without these rights & royalties Picasso won't be encouraged to create more 'works of lasting benefit to the world.'
posted by leotrotsky at 7:09 PM on March 23, 2016 [39 favorites]

I guess this is why the Google Cultural Institute has over 400 results for not very famous artist from the 1550s like Hendrik Goltzius but only 5 Picasso pieces.
posted by bonobothegreat at 7:31 PM on March 23, 2016

That reminds me, I was trying to remember what happened to the Picasso from the Eight Sensible Gifts project. Turns out we voted to keep it intact!
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 7:49 PM on March 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

he was only 5 foot three
posted by vrakatar at 8:10 PM on March 23, 2016 [4 favorites]

A little Googling led me to Forbes's List of Top-Earning Dead Celebrities. The list is kept in an awful image gallery, but for last year it was Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Charles Schulz, Bob Marley, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, Albert Einstein, Paul Walker, Bettie Page, Dr. Seuss, Steve McQueen (the dead one), and James Dean. The range of yearly incomes there is $115-8.5 million, so if the estimate cited in the article is correct, Picasso would have been within striking distance of the top 13 last year.
posted by little onion at 8:14 PM on March 23, 2016 [5 favorites]

Shower thought: A steep capital gains or estate tax focused on deceased artist estates that amounts to something like 50-75% of any direct sales and 50% of any reproductions/merchandise sales that go directly into funding arts in schools, grants and stipends for living artists, etc...

...with a loophole that affords equally steep writeoffs if you just, y'know, donate the art to a non-profit museum so the world can enjoy the artist's work.
posted by loquacious at 8:17 PM on March 23, 2016 [15 favorites]

I'm curious to know how zombie Steve McQueen is pulling in all that loot.
posted by ryanshepard at 8:36 PM on March 23, 2016

I'm curious to know how zombie Steve McQueen is pulling in all that loot.

Probably elaborate heists in which he rips off other dead millionaires. Possibly involving cool looking cars and motorcycles.
posted by thivaia at 8:46 PM on March 23, 2016 [11 favorites]

OK, the Forbes interface completely defeated me. How is Albert Einstein making money?
posted by zompist at 9:23 PM on March 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you want to learn how to give him money, check out The Official Licensing Site of Albert Einstein. I think it's that his name, face, and quotes are really widely used. That or he gets kickbacks every time relativity occurs.
posted by little onion at 9:40 PM on March 23, 2016 [4 favorites]

he was only 5 foot three

and yet he was never called an asshole
posted by Dr Dracator at 10:35 PM on March 23, 2016 [3 favorites]

and yet he was never called an asshole

This may be the least-true lyric to ever be sung (or even kind of spoken).
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:31 PM on March 23, 2016 [8 favorites]

Still genius though.
posted by msalt at 11:56 PM on March 23, 2016

I think it's that his name, face, and quotes are really widely used. That or he gets kickbacks every time relativity occurs.

His estate would be worth quite a bit more if so.
posted by clockzero at 12:12 AM on March 24, 2016

Come on, this is Albert Einstein, inventor of the Atom Bomb. Get your name on big military projects, it's a sweet deal. That guy sure wasn't stupid.
posted by Segundus at 12:27 AM on March 24, 2016

Shower thought: A steep capital gains or estate tax focused on deceased artist estates that amounts to something like 50-75% of any direct sales and 50% of any reproductions/merchandise sales that go directly into funding arts in schools, grants and stipends for living artists, etc...

Or just fix copyright
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:24 AM on March 24, 2016 [5 favorites]

The 2014 documentary, Picasso: The Legacy provides an excellent overview of the artist, his work, and the fascinating story of the state of his estate.
posted by fairmettle at 2:16 AM on March 24, 2016

Girls, they could not resist his stare.

Or so I'm told.
posted by evilDoug at 6:06 AM on March 24, 2016

Even in death, he remains an artist, playing the colors and shapes of his family's personalities into an abstract creation worthy of his greatest works.
posted by spicynuts at 9:02 AM on March 24, 2016

This may be the least-true lyric to ever be sung (or even kind of spoken).

Yeah, but you sing-speak that while wearing a hockey mask and everyone believes you.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 5:11 PM on March 24, 2016