José Rodeiro Els Quatre Gats, acrylic on canvas, 25” x 19,” 2010.

In Rodeiro’s Els Quatre Gats, Pablo Picasso’s light-gray frontal-shadow enters the door of the famous Barcelona café, Els Quatre Gats, while four cats pose around a table, which contains assorted bottles, glasses, and a hammer. A beaded curtain leads to secret room wherein three unseen Catalan painters (Santiago Rusiñol, Ramon Casas, and Isidor Nonnell) are drinking absinth. Or, the image could be a tribute to Hanover Merz-Art master Kurt Schwitters, who said, “I am a painter and I nail my pictures together . . .”