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Hemingway’s Picasso — True Crime
Hemingway’s Picasso

Steve Kough lived many lives. He was an NFL journeyman, a male model, and one of the most well-connected smugglers in 1980’s Miami, the “Drug Capital of the World.”

Kough collected many souvenirs from his adventures, but his most treasured bounty – a beautiful ceramic, crafted by Pablo Picasso and gifted to Ernest Hemingway at the author’s Cuban home, the Finca Vigia… or so the story goes.
Lost during the Cuban Revolution, the artwork resurfaced when Kough took it as a payment for drug run financed by the notorious Pablo Escobar.

Kough passed away in 2018, passing the piece down to his son, Stevie, a skateboarding hippie growing weed in California.
Stevie feels he needs to complete his father’s mission – of selling this piece and telling Steve’s cinematic life story.

So, is the Picasso authentic—or a fraud? Was Steve Kough a big talker or a real deal smuggler? Does any of that matter or is this a story of aspiration, legacy, and difficult love? Tune in on Monday’s starting on October 18th to find out!

This is a Somethin’ Else production in association with Vespucci.

Copyright: © Somethin' Else

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The Writer Dec 20, 2021

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We speak to Antony Penrose, the son of artists Lee Miller and Roland Penrose. He and his parents spent summers in the South of France with Pablo Picasso, one of the most recognized artists of the 20th century. Picasso was warm with Antony and other children, but the famous artist showed a very different side to adults, especially to his lover Françoise Gilot.

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Chapter Seven: The Answer Dec 06, 2021

Once Stevie hears about Steve's cancer, he brings his dad to Temecula, California to battle his illness together. Jamie tries to help, but can't figure out her place with her father and brother. Then, she learns an upsetting truth about what was in Steve’s will.

We speak with art specialists at Sotheby’s and Christies in London who deliberate on the authenticity of the piece and give their expert opinion on whether or not Fred and Betty is a real Picasso.

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Chapter Six: Verso Nov 29, 2021

The consequences of Steve’s actions as a father and drug smuggler have lasting effects on his loved ones.

Stevie, his son, recounts an altercation he had with his father when he was 18, and how it set his mental health to spiral out of control.

He spends the next 10 years of his life distancing himself from his father’s Miami and the heavy burden of Fred and Betty.

Steve’s old girlfriend, Lourdes, comes back into his life 30 years later, during his last and final years. But then, Steve receives a phone call that threatens to put an end to their love story.

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Chapter Five: The Equation Nov 22, 2021

Leah attempts to understand how Hemingway could have ended up with a Picasso ceramic by examining the relationship between these two important figures.

She goes through the work Steve Senior already went through to establish the piece’s provenance, or the history of its ownership. And she makes some discoveries of her own.

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Chapter Three: The Other Side of the World Nov 01, 2021

Steve deals with the consequences of his arrest from his drug run in Mexico. He moves to Miami to chase his dreams of football stardom, and ends up exploring what else the city has to offer. But then, he gets an angry call from his mother.

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Chapter Two: Bisquick Oct 25, 2021

During Steve’s short career on the football field he has a run in with his old buddies in the Detroit Mafia who lure him on his first trip across the border to Mexico.

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Chapter One: Into the Mine Oct 18, 2021

Steve Kough was a lot of things: an ex-NFL player, model, drug smuggler, art aficionado, Miami’s heart-throb, and a father. His unfiltered and brazen thirst for excitement mixed with a family history of crime was a cocktail for a wild life. On a cocaine drug run to Cuba in 1989, Steve winds up with a Picasso ceramic tile that once belonged to Ernest Hemingway. The piece is apparently meant to go to Pablo Escobar in lieu of cash, but due to political complications in Cuba, Steve gets to keep the piece.

Steve’s son, Stevie now holds the treasured piece that represents all the incarnations of his father. The question is, do we believe the story?

This is a Somethin' Else production in association with Vespucci.

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Introducing...Hemingways's Picasso Sep 13, 2021

Steve Kough lived many lives. He was an NFL journeyman, a male model, and one of the most well-connected smugglers in 1980’s Miami, the “Drug Capital of the World."

Kough collected many souvenirs from his adventures, but his most treasured bounty – a beautiful ceramic, crafted by Pablo Picasso and gifted to Ernest Hemingway at the author’s Cuban home, the Finca Vigia... or so the story goes. Lost during the Cuban Revolution, the artwork resurfaced when Kough took it as a payment for drug run financed by the notorious Pablo Escobar.

Kough passed away in 2018, passing the piece down to his son, Stevie, a skateboarding hippie growing weed in California. Stevie feels he needs to complete his father’s mission – of selling this piece and telling Steve’s cinematic life story. So, is the Picasso authentic—or a fraud? Was Steve Kough a big talker or a real deal smuggler? Does any of that matter or is this a story of aspiration, legacy, and difficult love? Tune in on Monday’s starting on October 18th to find out!

This is a Somethin' Else production in association with Vespucci.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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