Signed simply, "Para mi Amigo, Pablito 5/11/58, Picasso," the card was a thank you note for a gift of the boy's own sketchings sent to the famous artist earlier that year.
"Unfortunately, the detail of what we sent Picasso was not recorded as far as I know," said Frasconi. "I know it included Antonio's artwork too, and a letter to Pablo.
In adulthood, Frasconi followed in his father's creative footsteps, taking up the video camera rather than the engraver's burin. "As a young man, I remember seeing the film of Picasso painting on glass, and reading the David Douglas Duncan book Picasso's Picassos," explained Frasconi. "All of this resonated when I watched the films of [non-narrative filmmaker] Stan Brakhage at MOMA in 1971. I immediately decided to study film with him. Brakhage had that same innocent and introspective eye that I detected and admired in Picasso, and, at times, emulate in my own work."
Indeed, as an 18-time grant recipient from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Film Institute, many of Frasconi's films have focused on the lives of artists, starting with his own father. Other notable films include "The Light at Walden," and "The Survival of a Small City." He is currently a professor at the University of Southern California.
