I mean, how could they tell?
In 1962 Italian pawnbroker Luigi Lo Rosso came across the painting done in Picasso's signature style, while combing through the basement of a villa on the island of Capri.
Lo Rosso believed the painting to be authentic, as Picasso had spent time on the island during his career, but his wife was unimpressed with the find. She thought it was too ugly to sell, for obvious reasons, so rather than authenticate or sell the painting Lo Rosso placed it in a cheap frame and gave it to his wife.
Lo Rosso's wife then cleaned the dusty painting with detergent before hanging it up in their home where it remained for over 50 years, before they moved it to a restaurant the family owned.
It was Lo Rosso's son, Andrea, who wasn't even born when his dad first found the painting, who worked to have the art authenticated for decades before finally getting the confirmation he was looking for just last month when a graphologist for a patrimony court in Milan certified the Picasso signature in the corner as authentic.
The painting is believed to be a portrait of Picasso's lover at the time, Dora Maar.
Amazingly, Picasso and Maar stayed together for almost a decade. However, I wouldn't be surprised if this painting was the last straw.
The painting is valued at more than $6 million, but Andrea Lo Rosso is hoping that an additional certification by the Picasso Foundation in Paris will raise the value even higher.
Andrea Lo Rosso said,
I'm happy but let's wait to toast, there is still one step to take before we consider this incredible story over. I continue to work as I do every day in the hope that even in Paris they will be convinced of the authenticity of the painting.
The Picasso Foundation certification could double the painting's monetary value.
Andrea Lo Rosso says that once that is established, he and his siblings intend to auction off the painting in honor of their late father, who wanted to see it certified and sold from the first time he laid eyes on it more than 60 years ago.
This is just one of more than 13,500 Picasso paintings. And somehow it's still set to fetch millions.
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