Another Memorable "I Have a 'Dream'" Speech

I doubt that casino mogul Steve Wynn wishes he had taken a page from my book and built his art collection around kindergarten crayon drawings, velvet portraits of Elvis, and prints of dogs playing poker. Still, after damaging the most valuable painting in the world, Picasso's Le Reve ("The Dream") during an overexuberant guided tour, Wynn might just concede that there's something to be said for klutz-proof and replaceable art:

Casino mogul Steve Wynn will keep and restore a Pablo Picasso painting that he accidentally damaged shortly after he had agreed to sell it for a record $139 million, an aide said Tuesday.

Wynn was showing the painting called "Le Reve," French for "The Dream," to guests in his office earlier this month at Wynn Las Vegas when he struck the painting with his right elbow, spokeswoman Denise Randazzo said.

. . . .

The 1932 painting was left with a silver dollar-sized hole torn in the canvas, according to an account by screenwriter Nora Ephron, who saw the mishap.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, "Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me." I don't think many would argue the point with him and, frankly, it'd be pointless to try, since he's been dead since 1940 and the very dead are different from you and me.

A more appropriate sentiment might be these words, spoken by a jaded detective played by Denis Leary in the very underrated remake of The Thomas Crown Affair: "If some Houdini wants to snatch a couple swirls of paint that are really only important to some very silly rich people, I don’t really give a damn."