LEGEND maintains that in 1918 Picasso lashed out at his dealer, saying, “Le marchand - voilà l’ennemi!” As Picasso, a shrewd operator, knew only too well, dealers can be aggravatingly powerful. They are the saints of the art world—supporting struggling artists, shining a light on unacknowledged genius, exemplifying the highest standards of scholarship and connoisseurship; and also the sinners, accused of every possible skulduggery in pursuit of a higher price for their artists and a higher profit for themselves.
The dealer who bore the brunt of Picasso’s wrath was called Léonce Rosenberg. His silent partner at the time, in what was to become an historic deal with the artist, was Georges Wildenstein.
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