Mao Tsetung suddenly fell silent and ordered that pimento pepper be brought in. We took it as a sign that the official part of the meeting was over. Mao Tsetung pointed at me, and a plate loaded with red pimentos was passed to me first. A similar plate was given to Mao Tsetung.

Mao Tsetung bolted the pepper and, stretching in his chair, threw his questions: “Is Stalin a revolutionary? Does he like red pepper? A genuine revolutionary must eat red pepper…” He sipped out of his jug and remarked, “Alexander the Great adored red pepper for sure. He was a great man and a revolutionary in his own right. As for Stalin, he surely eats red pepper, too. You must also eat red pepper, Sung Ping. Come on, do, if you are a revolutionary…”

Mao Tsetung put away one pod after another, washing it down with khanja. One must admire his strong head, which can carry so much alcohol.

From Peter Vladimirov’s The Vladimirov Diaries, Yenan, China: 1942-1945, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1975, p. 54 (entry of August 30, 1942).

In memory of Marcel Duchamp, the author of the urinal

Addendum (March 31, 2019)

Although this dedication was meant only as a joke on Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), it is high time to add a few words about it. Namely, I have recently learned that there is growing evidence that the author of the urinal is not Duchamp. It was baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven (1874-1927), a member of the Dada movement, who sent the urinal to Duchamp signed R. Mutt and dated 1917. The same year, he submitted it to the American Society of Independent Artists, but it was rejected. A member of the society’s board, Duchamp resigned. Entitled “Fountain” by Duchamp, the urinal is widely accepted as an icon of Twentieth Century art. It is perceived as his most famous work of art. Way after the baroness’ death, he claimed authorship of the urinal and accepted accolades on its account. Alas, my dedication thus ends up as an even bigger joke on Duchamp than I could have imagined nearly four decades ago! Three cheers for the intrepid baroness, who is now celebrated by the feminists around the globe! But, as Duchamp said, life of an artwork is short, anyhow (“Oh, Death!” July 9, 2000). One way or another, the urinal’s days are numbered.