Has a new work by Picasso just been unearthed in Pompeii, Italy? After calling on experts in authenticating works of art, Andrea Lo Rosso, 60, is now convinced of it. The painting found by his father, Luigi, while emptying the cellar of a house in Capri in 1962, and hung in his living room for decades, is believed to be an original portrait of Dora Maar, a Franco-Croatian artist who was the muse and the mistress of Pablo Picasso.
Andrea Lo Rosso began to wonder about the origin of the work when she observed the signature on the upper left corner of the painting. He found that it looked very similar to that of Picasso represented in the art history encyclopedia given to him by his aunt.
“He had no idea who Picasso was”
“I looked at the painting and compared it to his signature. I kept telling my father that they were the same, but he didn’t hear it,” says the son, for whom the father was not “very cultured.” “He found the painting before I was born and had no idea who Picasso was. » The family even thought about getting rid of it at one point, before changing their mind. “My mother didn’t want to keep it, she kept saying it was horrible. »
The son never gave up. Even after his father’s death, he continued to investigate and call on art experts. Cinzia Altieri, graphologist and member of the scientific committee of the Arcadia Foundation, authenticated the signature on the painting as being that of Picasso, reports The Guardian. He valued the painting at 6 million euros.
“I worked on it for months, comparing it to some of his original works. There is no doubt that the signature is his. There is no evidence to suggest that it is false,” he explained.
The painting must still be authenticated by the Picasso Foundation
Andrea Lo Rosso tried to contact the Picasso Foundation in Malaga on several occasions, without success. She receives hundreds of messages every day from people claiming to be in possession of an original by the artist.
The bust of Dora Maar was painted in 1938 and stolen from a Saudi sheikh’s yacht in 1999 before its trace was found 20 years later. But according to Luca Marcante, president of the Arcadia Foundation, there could be two versions of the work. “They are probably two portraits, not exactly identical, of the same subject painted by Picasso at two different periods,” he told the Italian newspaper Il Giorno.
He too is certain of it: “The one found in Capri and today kept in a chest in Milan is authentic. » He will present his observations to the Foundation, which has the final say on the authentications of Picasso’s paintings.
