Pablo Picasso's children are at the centre of a fierce controversy following the launch in the French market of a Citroen car named after the great Spanish painter. Detractors say the children have debased their father's memory through the sale of exploitation rights to the French car maker, which started taking orders for the Citroen Xsara Picasso this month. The Picasso Administration, which acts on behalf of the artist's heirs and is headed by his son Claude, approached the firm last year as part of a strategy aimed at multiplying the $214m) legacy received by the family on his death in 1973.Citroen agreed to pay a hefty but undisclosed sum to put the painter's name on its latest model, a small family saloon selling for about $20,300. The vehicle bears nothing more of Picasso than his name and a copy of his signature above the rear bumper.The deal was concluded in August, but the criticism which has since engulfed Picasso's children only began when the manufacturer last week launched a French TVadvertising campaign featuring a small boy asking his father for a Picasso, raising fears among some that for younger generations, the name will be linked with the automobiles, not with painting.Le Monde, the French daily newspaper, accused Claude Picasso of turning one of the 20th century's most influential artists into ``a product''. ``The family has fallen for the lure of merchandising, it said. The magazine Marianne denounced a ``juicy commercial operation'', adding that Picasso had become ``endless source of money''. The Picasso administration, based in central Paris, spends about $892,000 a year on lawsuits against the many companies that use the painter's name without authorisation, such as the Cafe Picasso in Guadalajara, Mexico.At the same time, the Picasso's have sold exploitation rights to 1,043 companies across the world, giving birth, for example, to the Cognac Hennessy Picasso, and a luxury cigarette lighter, Dupont Picasso. The family earned about $2.14m last year in this way and standsto reap far more from the deal with Citroen, although neither party will say how much this is worth.The Picasso administration, which represents the children and grandchildren from the painter's marriage to Olga Khoklova, and from his affairs with Marie-Therese Walter and Francoise Gilot, has until 2023 to exploit the artist's name. In that year, it will fall into the public domain. But the 24 years until then are certain to be profitable, with Picasso's 13,500 paintings worth about $1.1 bn at his death and far more today. The total value of his paintings sold at auction since 1973 is over $142m, much greater than for any other artist. According to Citroen, which conducted extensive research before naming its car, his fame is almost universal. ``Everyone has heard of him.'' said a spokesperson. This celebrity persuaded Citroen to become the first car firm ever to name one of its vehicles after an artist, even though the move involved some risks: if, for instance, consumers start to associate Citroenwith some of the more tortured and surrealistic creations of the great man or with the destruction portrayed in his chef d'oeuvre, Guernica. ``Obviously this is a leap into the unknown,'' said the spokesperson, adding that only two European cars have ever been named after real people, an Opel Corsa Steffi Graf, after the tennis player, and the Renault Twingo Kenzo, after the fashion designer.Even though the Citroen Picasso will not be in the show rooms until December, it is already a household name in France and orders are rolling in. ``That is exceptional,'' said the spokesperson. ``People know this car exists and they want it because of the name.''The Observer News Service
