95.33

“Callow Young Genius.” Interview by Barbara Probst Solomon. New York, 11 September, 81–84. First (and one of the best) interviews on Portrait of Picasso as a Young Man (95.38). Solomon leads Mailer into a thoughtful discussion of the young Picasso, sex, narcissism, science and painting. Mailer also anticipates, correctly, the response of art critics to 95.38:

“ Art jargon is one of the most offensive critical languages, and it certainly seals the subject off from the onlooker. So the art critics who are making a living out of the subject without real penetration will absolutely detest what I am trying to do here. Because I am trying to say, here’s a man, an immensely complicated man, and incredibly talented, but he is not beyond our reach. ”