Reading Time: 2minutesThe dove drawn by Picasso for Brian Blessed
When British actor Brian Blessed met Picasso as a child he asked him to draw a dove. Now for a world renowned artist, a dove would have been a rather simple thing to draw. But children can be incredible difficult beings to deal with, and sometimes they will ignorantly challenge anyone over anything. And this is exactly what happened when Brian Blessed met Picasso and asked him to draw a dove. The only thing is, when Brian Blessed rejected Picasso’s dove he also threw away 57 million pounds. OUCH!
Well we’re no strangers around here to people making costly mistakes. Some have been absolutely massive, others, like this one, have been big enough. But each time the costly decision was made, the circumstances were pretty much the same. The person who threw away the opportunity didn’t notice or realize the potential at the time. With the benefit of hindsight, they can see the folly of their way, and it does serve as a warning for us all. It’s possible that any one of us could be presented with a life changing opportunity at a moments notice, and we mustn’t throw away the hidden opportunity.
When Brian was 12 years old in 1948 there was a world peace conference in the UK. Along with notable world leaders was the famous artist, Picasso. The meeting between the pair can really be described as accidental, because at the time Brian Blessed was only a child and not yet a talented star.
Brian was part of a school outing on the day, and had the great chance to meet a living legend. When he met the famous artist he was not that impressed, and doubted that he was the real deal. Brian piped up and asked him to prove that he was indeed Picasso and draw him a dove. So to prove who he was, Picasso did draw him a dove of peace in about 20 seconds, which Brian quickly rejected before showing the great artist how to draw a dove. Little did he know that Picasso had just drawn a masterpiece worth tens of millions of pounds.
If you’re Picasso, draw me something.And he drew a dove of peace, in about 20 seconds, less. And I looked at it and said “that’s not a dove, I’ll draw you a dove.” And I drew him a dove, and I gave it to him. He looked at it and I turned his down. You can see it in an art gallery in Sheffield. It’s valued at £57 million. My father wouldn’t talk to me for about a month.
~Brian Blessed speaking of his encounter with Picasso in Sheffield in 1948
