In Paris, Paul-Émile Borduas was living in his studio where he had a mattress on the floor in the corner. He painted at that time enormous black and white abstractions and occasionally some of more manageable dimensions, which I bought. Obviously hard up for money, Borduas never tried to sell and did not really like to part with any of his work. The last picture I bought was a 20" x 24" canvas. A Montreal architect borrowed it. He had been a good customer, but of late, having already too many pictures, he usually brought back what he took. The price was $375, and the day after he took it the papers reported the sudden death of the artist. This time I did not get the picture back and years later it was resold for a very high price.

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