Artfest International, Inc (fka ARTS)

[Kool Aid Man]

Picasso.. Pick-asso.. Schmicasso.. what a joke-o
This thing looks like it was whittled in Nigeria for export or sale to stupid tourists http://www.masonicartfoundation.com/ Consider Eddie Vakser's and Barry Wicker's bumbling, ham-handed claims.. you just can't write this sort of comedy:

1) "Signed, and dated, Picasso 2-6-49." Picasso was notoriously hyper (time was MONEY) and constantly flitted from work to work --especially from the 1930's onward. He barely took the time to sign a painting much less invest the considerable labor required to carve and hand polish a piece like this ..much less etch a signature deep into hard wood. THEN we're expected to believe he carved the month, DAY and year on it as well? See how many of his works you can find that are signed and dated with the month, day and year. We're expected to believe Picasso went to this amount of trouble for a secret, private, uncatalogued gift to his lover? Quite a gesture for a woman who in her book "Life with Picasso" explains her 1953 walkout and breakup as being because of "abusive treatment and Picasso's infidelities."

2) There is no "Natural Gallery Museum of Art" in California. Wicker and Vaksers' claim that it was displayed in "a Picasso exhibit in Hollywood, California... side-by-side with Playboy's Hugh Hefner's Vargas Girls watercolors." Man that's some classy venue showing a priceless "Picasso" amidst a collection of cheesecake pin-up girls!

3) "The curator of the museum carbon dated the wood to be of proper period" WTF does that mean? A forger could use any old log as long as it's not younger than 1949. A stunt like this is typical of a con man.

"Signature, and date, to be valid"-- by WHOM?

4) "The statue is uncatalogued" --how very convenient to explain away the lack of provenance.

5) The late "Dr. Kenneth J Maier" (of Lake Forest, director and chairman of the Radiology Imaging Department at Holy Family Hospital in Des Plaines, IL) died in 1994 at age 61. Maier was indeed assisted in a few aquisitions for the "Art Institute of Chicago" (not the "Chicago Art Institute" as described by Master Wicker) However, his involvement appears to be rather limited from what I can find. His interest seemed to be in rare porcelain items. Above all there is ZERO information whatsoever found online connecting him to either Picasso or this hunk of wood. Where's the customs declaration.. the tax records.. travel/ passport evidence? Frankly, I'm not seeing any other provenance or evidence to backup Wicker's claims about Dr. Maier's except HERESAY!!!

Finally, let's do the math: Maier was born in 1933. Therefore, the earliest he might have been in practice was -say- 1963-ish. Picasso died in 1973 at age 91. So for young Dr. Maier (a RADIOLOGIST) to have "rendered services" so valuable enough to warrant such a gift from the 80+ year old Picasso it would have to have been within those last 10 years of his life.

So take the Picasso out of Artfest and what do you have left?