September, 1908 - Paris
[Originally titled "Paris, September 1908" and released within The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles on June 19, 1993, then later paired with the episode "British East Africa, September 1909" to become "Passion for Life," released on home video for The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones on September 18, 2000]
Later on in France, the Jones family explores “The City of Art,” and Indiana befriends another young man a few years his senior named Norman Rockwell, who is similarly another American tourist thus the two have much in common. While admiring the work of French artist Edgar Degas, Indiana is unimpressed with the style of Impressionism, yet Rockwell is determined to teach his new friend what the arts are all about.
Rockwell and Indiana escape the grasp of Ms. Seymour and find themselves in a dark tavern where artists including Degas himself, Georges Braque, and Pablo Picasso are immersed in a heated discussion about Cubism. Degas is critical of Picasso’s work and calls it destructive, while Picasso says he can do what Degas does in his sleep. Rockwell jumps to the much older and celebrated Degas’s defense, which inspires Picasso to take the two boys under his wing.
Picasso brings Rockwell and Indiana back to his apartment and gives them a lesson on not only Degas technique, but on his own style of Cubism as well, in which Rockwell vigorously takes his own sketches in his notepad simultaneously.
Later Picasso, Rockwell, and Indiana go out to the restaurant with the company of prostitutes, whom Picasso uses as a distraction while he tries to get Degas to sign a painting that actually isn’t his own [It’s instead Picasso’s own forgery of Degas work, thus verifying his previous proclamation]. Moments later a fight breaks out between Picasso and the prostitutes' pimps, and Rockwell and Indiana narrowly escape.
Further into Indiana’s stay in Paris, Picasso helps him write a paper on Leonardo Da Vinci for Ms. Seymour, and invites Indiana and Rockwell to another party. When they arrive they find out that it’s a costume party, and they are in the company of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (art dealer), Gertrude Stein (writer), Alice B. Toklas (Stein’s lover and confidant), and Henri Rousseau (another French impressionist).
As Rousseau is telling a ghost story, Ms. Seymour arrives looking for Indiana (who had previously escaped from his hotel’s bedroom window) and Picasso takes her by gunpoint to another room. It’s there where Picasso sketches Ms. Seymour in a traditional format as well as a Cubist version, leaving the governess overwhelmed yet thoroughly impressed.
The next day Kahnweiler tries to buy Picasso’s forgery of Degas that was previously mentioned, yet Picasso insists that it first must be signed by the artist, thus Kahnweiler brings it to Degas himself. With his eyesight failing him, Degas signs the work mistaking it for it’s own, leaving Picasso delighted over his devious accomplishment.
Indiana then gives Picasso a taste of his own medicine, selling Rockwell’s forgery of Picasso to Kahnweiler in the same fashion, humbling Picasso who then facetiously suggests that Indiana should stay in Paris and become his agent.
Therefore in his first stint in Paris a young Indiana met a wealth of legendary artists of the time period, including:
Edgar Degas - one of the founders of Impressionism - although he rejected the term and would have rather been called a ‘Realist’
Georges Braque - French artist most notable for his alliance with Fauvism as well as his contributions to Cubism
Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler - art historian and collector who was one of the premier French art dealers of the 20th century - and was one of the first to champion the styles of Picasso, Braque, and Cubism
Gertrude Stein - novelist and poet who brought homosexuality into the mainstream and coined the phrase “Lost Generation”
Alice B Toklas - another member of the Parisian Avant-Garde who was the focus of Stein’s most celebrated work The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas, whom is also credited for the recipe of Haschich Fudge - and subsequently has inspired a variety of other cannabis concoctions over time.
Henri Rousseau - an impressionist best known for depicting jungle scenes - although he’d never left France let alone even been to the jungle - and whose style was often widely criticized yet drew the admiration of Pablo Picasso, who even hosted an infamous banquet in Rousseau’s honor titled Le Banquet Rousseau)
Norman Rockwell - an American artist who would later become famous depicting his own American culture, including decades of celebrated work for the Boy Scouts of America as well as for the Saturday Evening Post magazine. He also would go on to paint the portraits of Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon - in addition to many other foreign dignitaries as well.
Pablo Picasso - a Spanish artist who spent most of his adult life in France, he co-founded the Cubist movement (as well as many other styles and themes) and is considered one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century.
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