The mayor of Paris summons Picasso to his office.

"Bon jour, Pablo. Comment ça vas?"

"I've been blue for some time but now I am in the pink."

"That's very good, but what is all this talk about cubism?"

"My friend, Braque, and I are experimenting with a new form of painting. Until now all painting has been done from one point of view since a canvas is only two-dimensional. We want to show people and objects from several points of view. For instance, if I paint a side view of a face, I may show a front view of the eyes. I may even move the ear that is hidden so it can also be seen." "But what does cubism mean?"

"When we first exhibited some of our paintings, one of the critics exclaimed, 'Still more cubes! Enough of cubism!' This is how the name became attached to our paintings."

"But will the public understand what you are doing?"

"It doesn't really matter because, as Gertrude always says, 'A painting is a painting is a painting is a painting'."

"Pablo, you are one of the few painters that have become successful while you are alive. You have been able to sell anything you produce."

"That's true. Last week I called in a cabinetmaker to make some cabinets for my studio. I showed him a sketch of what I wanted and asked him how much it would cost. He said, 'Sign the sketch and I'll make it for nothing'."

"Pablo, that's very interesting, but I have been asked to inform you of a new regulation passed last year. It is now compulsory for everyone to retire when they reach their 65th birthday. Since you are still a Spanish citizen, I thought the law would not apply, but today I have been informed that since you have lived in Paris so long, you are to be included. You will have to retire as of tomorrow."

"I have just reached the peak of my creative powers. I have been experimenting with making ceramics and have sold some large platters for thousands of dollars. Recently I returned from Spain where I visited my friend, Salvador, at his studio in Figuères. He is into surrealistic painting with great success. I am working on some canvases in this genre also. The city of Chicago has just commissioned me to produce a very large metal sculpture, called Tête de Femme, for the Civic Center Plaza. I couldn't possibly retire now."

"I'm sorry, Pablo, but that is the law."

"Gertrude has invited me and my friends to her Atelier at 27 rue de Fleurus for dinner tonight. My friends* Ernest, Ezra, Georges, Jacques and Henri will be there. I must inform them of this new regulation as it will apply to them as well as to Gertrude. If I tell them I am planning to move back to my studio in Barcelona, I am sure they will all decide to join me." "Mon Dieu! That would be a catastrophe! The Left Bank and Montmartre will never be the same."

"Pablo, please wait until I go to the Palais de l'Elysée to speak to the President. As I always say, 'A law is a law is a law is a law, but with exceptions'."

(Picasso's friends: Gertrude Stein, Salvador Dali, Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, Georges Braque, Jacques Lipschitz, Henri Matisse)

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