[Ads-l] Anecdote: Knowing where to tap

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Neal Whitman wrote:
> I've come across this story as an artist being asked to draw something
> like a logo. He does so with a few strokes. The rest of the story you
> can fill in.

Thanks for your comment, Neal. Below is a Picasso anecdote that I
suspect is analogous to the logo-design-in-a-few-strokes tale to which
you have alluded. A tourist approaches Picasso while he is dining and
boldly asks for a sketch by the artist:

Date: April 10, 2001
Newspaper: Star Tribune
Newspaper Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Article: Success Secrets: Don't sell short when setting your price
Author: Mark McCormick
Quote Page 34, Column 1
Database: Newspapers.com

[Begin excerpt]
The man made a self-deprecating gesture with his hands. "Oh, I'll pay
you for it. Name your price."

"Fine," said Picasso, and taking a charcoal from his pocket made a
rapid sketch of a goat. It took only a few strokes, yet was
unmistakably a Picasso. The man reached out for the napkin, but
Picasso did not hand it over. "You owe me $100,000," he said. The
tourist was outraged. $100,000? Why, that took you no more than 30
seconds to draw!"

Picasso crumpled up the napkin and stuffed it in his jacket pocket.
"You are wrong," he said, dismissing the man. "It took me 40 years."
[End excerpt]

Garson

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