Concerning Pablo Picasso and other famous people. From success to fame in contemporary culture

n view of the vicissitudes our societies are experiencing, affected as they are by globalisation in the midst of the twenty-first century, it is of paramount importance for Western democratic traditions to reflect on the idea of recognition as it has become an essential element of our understanding of the cultural and political reality around us. Differentiated demands such as equal rights for members of a community are being voiced everywhere. The unconditional recognition of the distinctive features of others and the consideration demanded for cultural minorities, implemented in a consensual and fair manner through policies of recognition, clash with the simultaneous promotion of globalised lifestyles that reward a narcissism unconcerned about the future and, as various analysts have warned, express a growing lack of interest in past events.

A narcissistic society fosters fame and personal and exclusionary success, leading to the cultural devaluation of difference and a distancing from what has already happened. This social model expresses the deterioration of ideologies and heralds the collective establishment of an individual inner life doomed to spiritual impoverishment. Today, nostalgia is a commodity to be traded and the future a myth to be corrupted by marketing to suit the needs of the powers that be.

The terminological confusion resulting from a cultural framework lacking in critical mass and with an absence of disinterested voices based on common sense leads us to confuse success with fame, or reputation with recognition. We have never heard and read so much about Pablo Picasso in this country as we have in 2023, the year of the ‘Picasso Celebration. 1973–2023’ international programme. Putting aside the unquestionable aesthetic value of his oeuvre, the figure of the Málaga-born artist has become a brand, an exportable icon suitable for all kinds of transactions.