The Filching Magpie

A painter in Paris, photographed by Bruno Schlumberger via National Geographic. Oh, God, the irony of this photo. I delight in the absolute irony of it. Aside from that, I adore the little teddy bear sticker on the bottom-right corner of the self portrait. There’s a little story in that little sticker. I imagine that a tiny tot asked for a portrait, and the old man painted her before asking her for money. As payment for the portrait, she held up the sticker and placed it in his large hands. He might have smiled as she skipped off with her newly-bought art, and stuck the tiny teddy on his easel for safe-keeping.