She-Goat

Pablo Picasso, 1950 (cast 1952) · The Sculpture Garden

That belly was a wicker basket. Now it's the ribcage of a pregnant goat. So. South of France. Town full of potters. And the summer before, he'd won a goat in a lottery. Of course he did. A male goat. Then he decides to make one of his own. Next to his studio there's this yard full of broken ceramics, scrap metal, whatever the potters don't want. And Picasso starts shopping. Two ceramic jugs for the udders. Palm fronds for the back and that long goat face. Bits of metal wherever she looks like she might fall apart. Then he packs plaster around the whole mess. Okay. Now we got a goat. And all of it started in a trash pile. But here's the best part. There's a metal pipe where the butt goes. And at one point, inside the belly, there was this little rubber balloon. You squeezed the goat... noise came out the back. So, yeah. Picasso made a farting goat when he was pushing seventy. Then two years later, they cast her in bronze. Which is pretty great. The farting junk goat is now permanent. Heavy as hell. Museum piece. But get close. Jugs. Palm fronds. All those little scraps and textures are still right there.

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