23 DECEMBER 1989, Page 57

Abstraction

Sir: $26.4 million is not the record for an abstract work because the Picasso painting which fetched this price, 'Le Miroir', is not abstract (Sale-rooms, 9 December). It shows a nude figure, a mirror, and the reflection of that figure, all against a wallpaper background. It is well-known that Picasso abhorred `abstract' painting in the sense of a Jackson Pollock or Kandinsky painting, although of course no matter how distorted his final Image it was always an 'abstract' from reality.

John St Clair

9 Dover Mansions, Canterbury Crescent, London SW9