Wednesday, November 26, 2014

possessives - How to refer to a collection of paintings by a particular artist?




For example, suppose that in an art museum a tour guide wants to refer to a room that displays paintings from Pablo Picasso, so he says,



"This room has the Picasso's."



Would this be correct? Or should it be,



"This room has the Picassos."


Answer



A painting by Pablo Picasso can be referred to as a Picasso, but the plural would be Picassos:





"Russians have money,” he went on. “Art dealers from all over world are
now asking me to buy Picassos, other Impressionists. I prefer
Renaissance, Caravaggio. But I do not buy them. I’d rather invest in
my freedom, rather than in my walls."




Picasso's is the possessive:





Pablo Picasso's paintings are sometimes called Picassos.




Picasso's would also be the possessive of the painting:




The Picasso's texture confirmed its authenticity.





www.newyorker.com


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