8 JUNE 2002, Page 31

Picasso back to front

From Mr Martin Woodhead Sir: I congratulate Frank Johnson (Shared opinion, 1 June) on his modest deflation of Picasso. Nearly 30 years ago I went with a friend to a 'major retrospective' of the artist at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. 'Retrospective' it indeed proved to be, for somehow or other we began our viewing from the wrong end. We began, therefore, with slapdash daubs, continued through some striking material, and by the end discovered the man's sublime draughtsmanship. Truly an educational experience.

Martin Woodhead

Holmfirth. Yorkshire