Picasso and Chagall on each other

Best line I read in Gilot’s book during the flight. Each of the artists made these statements to her privately.

Picasso: “When Matisse dies, Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is. I’m not crazy about those cocks and asses and flying violinists and all the folklore, but his canvases are really painted, not just thrown together.”

Chagall: “What a genius, that Picasso. It’s a pity he doesn’t paint.”

However, the contrast between these two judgments needs to be put in context. Picasso and Chagall had had a terrible falling-out due to some extremely rude remarks Picasso made over lunch one day. They never met again after that lunch, and Chagall took the conversation a lot harder than Picasso, who often said vicious things to his friends during arguments.