Premise: Early in his article--which he has called Escaping  The Great Master That Never Was--the author reminds us that there was a time when he devoted himself to Picasso studies, how the most trivial academic revelation once caused him to run off to a nearby bar to drink my very first vodka on the rocks.

Hypothesis: Once a fan of Picasso, the author became disillusioned as he learned more about the artist.
Relation: neutral