Pablo Picasso

Some people can look at a Picasso and be awed by his clarity. Most look and are intrigued by the colors, moved by the bold designs, but are not always quite sure what is going on. They feel gratitude for whatever background notes and explanation are provided. This group will feel the same way about "Desire Caught by the Tail" and "The Four Little Girls," two one-act plays by Pablo Picasso now playing through Feb. 21 at the Sixth Avenue Playhouse.

An airport in Edinburgh, Scotland, has reversed its decision to cover up portions of an art poster that depicts Pablo Picasso's painting "Nude Woman in a Red Armchair. " The poster appeared at the airport as part of an advertisement for the show "Picasso and Modern British Art," which is running at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Following a handful of complaints from travelers, the airport decided to cover up the image with a white sheet, according to a report in the Edinburgh Evening News.

TRACKING down a Pablo Picasso or Andy Warhol in this town isn't as easy as you might imagine. Sure, you could check out Picasso's "Weeping Woman With Handkerchief" at LACMA or view Andy Warhol's photograph of Jean-Michel Basquiat at the Getty. That is, if the artworks happen to be on display. Even assuming the best, you still have to contend with the crowds -- not to mention the security guards, whom you will surely encounter if you happen to lean in too close.

Art thieves calling themselves "Australian cultural terrorists" sent a ransom note Monday claiming responsibility for the theft of a painting by Pablo Picasso and demanding increased government funding for the arts as the price for its return, police said. The oil painting, titled "Weeping Woman" and valued at more than $1 million, disappeared from the National Gallery in the state of Victoria on Saturday.

A 1958 crayon drawing attributed to Pablo Picasso is up for sale -- at Costco.com. Price: $129,999.99. It's the second Picasso to be offered online by Costco since it began featuring fine art on consignment from dealers in March 2004. Costco's first online Picasso, priced at $39,000, sold in January. This piece, like the earlier one, was offered by art dealer Jim Tutwiler of Orlando, Fla., with authentication from Picasso's daughter, Maya Picasso.

One of Pablo Picasso's daughters has questioned the authenticity of a drawing listed for sale on Costco Wholesale Corp.'s website, and for two others already sold over the last two years as works by the Spanish cubist. "Picador in a Bullfight," a drawing listed at $145,999.99, was removed from Costco's website this week after Maya Widmaier-Picasso questioned its authenticity certificates, and the certificates for the other two works.

A bullring that was the only building ever designed by Pablo Picasso may be constructed in the artist's hometown. The idea for the structure came about as a result of Picasso's friendship with bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin, said the late matador's former wife, Lucia Bose. "We were at Picasso's house one day when he had sort of sketched what he wanted and an architect arrived," Italian actress Bose said. The final design was signed by Picasso, Dominguin and architect Antonio Bonet.

As Secretary of State Colin L. Powell presented evidence to help U.N. ambassadors decide whether or not to go to war against Iraq, there was one important thing they did not see: Pablo Picasso's "Guernica." A tapestry version of one of the world's greatest antiwar works that adorns the wall outside the Security Council chamber was covered Wednesday by a blue curtain with U.N. logos. A U.N. commentary on war and peace? ambassadors wondered. Trying to avert a diplomatic incident, the U.N.

The art prospector must have thought he'd snagged a great deal when he purchased what he thought was a $5-million Picasso pastel for less than half its value. Tatiana Khan, owner of the Chateau Allegre gallery on La Cienega Boulevard, claimed the artwork -- called "La Femme Au Chapeau Bleu" (The Woman in the Blue Hat) -- was owned by the Malcolm Forbes family estate and was a bargain at only $2 million, according to court documents. But the art prospector became suspicious several years later and contacted a Picasso expert in 2008.

Jacqueline Picasso, the widow of Pablo Picasso, committed suicide today at her chateau on the French Riviera, the same place where the giant of modern art died in 1973. She was 59. Police said she was found with a bullet in her head, fired from an automatic pistol that was found lying by her side. The chateau, Notre Dame de Vie in Mougins, a village overlooking Cannes, is a virtual museum filled with some of Picasso's greatest paintings.