The Uninvited Guest (1966–1984)

This chapter details events in Roland Penrose's life from 1966 to 1984. By the mid-1960s, Roland used his Sussex home as a refuge from his lecture tours, meetings at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and other London-based activities. As a result, he paid more attention to the garden and filled it with sculptures. Although he kept in touch with the ICA, Roland had lost touch with its day-to-day activities during his Picasso years. He had expected Herbert Read to carry on in his place, but when Read died in 1968 Roland felt duty-bound to rekindle his formerly close relationship with the Institute. Finding new quarters for the ICA — and raising funds to accomplish this — became Roland's preoccupation. In 1973, Picasso died on 8 April, in his ninety-first year. In 1977, when he served on the committee selecting the Picasso works that would constitute the dation en paiement (death duties) payable to the French government, Roland felt he was burgling an old friend's house.