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Picasso’s ‘Olga’ briefly visits Greencastle
Olga is a woman of mystery. What secrets does she hold in her past? What places has she visited over the years?
If only briefly, Olga visited Greencastle this week.
“Olga” is a painting by Pablo Picasso from around 1923, a portrait of wife Olga Khokhlova.
Those familiar with Picasso as the father of Cubism won’t recognize in it the angular, abtract forms and multiple perspectives that are hallmarks of that avant garde style.
Instead this particular portrait of Olga – like most of his paintings of Khokhlova – is rendered in the Neoclassical style, composed as it was during the “return to order” of European artists following the chaos of the Great War.
During First Friday festivities this weekend, “Olga” hung on the wall of the Bearded Painter’s Franklin Street studio, where any visitor could walk in and gawk. When Rick Johnston (the Bearded Painter himself) was feeling particularly generous, some even had the chance to hold and touch the painting by one of the masters of the 20th century.
So, how did a genuine Picasso (complete with his signature on the front and the authenticating stamps and seal on the back) come to be in Greencastle?
In the seven years since Johnston started painting to help with rehab from a 2015 neurological disorder, he’s shipped paintings around the world, giving the proceeds to charity and making friends everywhere.
Two of those friends are George and Sherri Pappas of South Carolina, who happen to have works from a number of artists in their personal collection, including Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali and, yes, Rick Johnston.
“In her house, there’s a Picasso, a Salvador Dali and a Bearded Painter all on the same wall,” Johnston said, clearly amused with the absurdity of what he was saying.
Sherri Pappas has taken a particular liking to Johnston, though. Her husband is a former Army Ranger with PTSD, and she sees someone similar in Johnston.
“I’m also an Army Ranger, so we have some things in common,” he said.
In the century since she was painted, “Olga” was in the possession of a Parisian family for about 70 years. When the couple died without heirs, they wanted “common people” to experience their collection.
“They wanted it to be shown,” Johnston said. “That’s how it came from France to South Carolina to Greencastle.”
The particular “Olga,” however, is shrouded in mystery. Rick’s wife Cammie Johnston elaborated.
“If you look up ‘Olga,’ by Pablo Picasso, you’ll find other paintings, but you won’t find her,” Cammie said. “We don’t know if it’s because it was in the collection of the Parisian family for so long.”
There is reason to believe that, before making its way back to France where Pablo and Olga resided, the painting may well have fallen into the hands of Nazis when they were making their way across Europe in the late 1930s and early 1940s, not only making war but also plundering the treasures of other nations.
This belief is due to the evidence on the back of the frame that the canvas was cut away from its original frame.
“When the Germans took her, they cut her out of her frame,” Rick said.
Cammie is a bit less certain of the Third Reich connection, but regards it as a distinct possibility.
“You hold the canvas, and you know it was held by Pablo Picasso,” she said. “But was it also held by Adolf Hitler? Probably not, but we just don’t know.”
For those who missed “Olga” on Friday, there will be a chance to see other classics from the Pappas collection. A Van Gogh should be on loan for the September First Friday event, with the promise of a Dali and others in the future.
“We’re very grateful that she said, ‘Just put this in the studio and let people see it,’” Cammie said.
Apparently that’s what the longtime owners would have wanted.