A Junk Dealer Found A Painting In The Basement Of An Italian Villa, And Experts Believe It’s An Original Pablo Picasso Piece That’s Worth Millions
Over 60 years ago, a junk dealer discovered a painting while rummaging through the basement of a villa on the island of Capri, Italy.
Now, art experts believe it is an original portrait by Pablo Picasso, and it could be worth millions of dollars.
In 1962, a junk dealer named Luigi Lo Rosso found the painting, which is thought to feature the French photographer and poet Dora Maar, who was romantically involved with Picasso.
The picture is asymmetrical and depicts a woman with brown hair. She is wearing a blue dress and red lipstick. In the top left corner, Picasso’s signature could clearly be seen.
According to Luigi’s son, Andrea Lo Rosso, his father framed the painting and gifted it to his wife. She hung it up in the family home, where it remained for five decades. Later, she put it up in their restaurant because she didn’t think it was nice enough to sell.
“My father was from Capri and would collect junk to sell for next to nothing,” Andrea said. “He found the painting before I was even born and didn’t have a clue who Picasso was. He wasn’t a very cultured person.”
“While reading about Picasso’s works in the encyclopedia, I would look up at the painting and compare it to his signature. I kept telling my father it was similar, but he didn’t understand. But as I grew up, I kept wondering.”
From his father’s stories, Andrea knew that two canvases were recovered from the Capri site. Both of them were covered with dirt and grime.
His mother laid them out and washed them with detergent. Only one was marked with Picasso’s trademark scribble.
OliverFoerstner – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
In the 1980s, Andrea was looking through an art history textbook when he noticed that another Picasso, Buste de femme Dora Maar, was very similar to the piece hanging on his family’s wall.
In the past, art historians told the family that the artwork was not authentic but offered to buy it anyway, which made them suspicious.
Eventually, the Lo Rossos registered the work with Italy’s patrimony police. Now, the painting is finally getting recognized for what it is.
Cinzia Altieri, a certified forensic graphologist at the Arcadia Foundation, recently analyzed the piece and determined that it is genuine. She valued the painting at around $6.6 million.
“After all the other examinations of the painting were done, I was given [the] job of studying the signature,” said Altieri.
“I worked on it for months, comparing it with some of his original works. There is no doubt that the signature is his. There was no evidence suggesting that it was false.”
Luigi Lo Rosso died in 2021. Andrea is now 60 years old and is content that the painting may soon be recognized officially.
The family hopes that the Picasso Foundation in Paris will also confirm the painting’s authenticity. If they do, its value could go up even more. The canvas is currently stored in a vault in Milan.
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