“Let’s buy some bread and cheese and just eat it on a bench.” With this simple culinary suggestion Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) coined a well-known saying for his Parisian circle of friends. When only a few sous could be dug out of his trousers pockets, Picasso’s muse, Fernande, wasn’t even able to simmer up one of her more imaginary than ingredient-rich stews. It was then imperative to get through the really lean days.

Only when he was completely broke did things become better thanks to the loan-creating pastry trick: Picasso ordered as abundant a lunch as possible from the pâtissier. However, the door was not opened for the delivery boy. Fernande would say, “Put everything on the floor; I can’t open up now, because I’m not dressed.” Payment ensued days later, when the budgetary situation had eased.

As is well-known, financial and culinary misery was not a permanent condition in the life of the painter. It was precisely the works from the “consumptive” Rose Period that enticed then legendary art dealer Ambroise Vollard to buy in bulk, which rehabilitated Picasso financially in subsequent years. During his work as a stage designer for Diaghilew’s Ballet Russe he fell in love with the ballerina Olga Koklova – a lady with principles and ambitions. She subjected the painter’s circle of friends to a thorough cleansing, the lively bohemian revelry mutated into upscale diners in cool splendour.

After the divorce Picasso promptly resumed his earlier life. The gastronomic focal point was a small restaurant in the vicinity of his studio, which the proprietor renamed Le Catalan in honour of his regular guest. The photographer Brassaï wrote about Picasso at his table: “Nowhere does his conversation rich with humour and imagination come to life as at the table during meals in the circle of his friends.”

At the end of the war the artist moved back to the Midi. Increasing reclusiveness at his last country estate Notre-Dame-de-Vie followed years in alternating villas and palaces, with alternating companions and an influx of visitors from all over the world.