A painting discovered by a junk dealer in the basement of an Italian villa six decades ago is actually the work of Pablo Picasso and could sell for millions, according to experts.
Luigi Lo Rosso used to spend his days combing abandoned houses and landfills in search of treasure to sell in the family鈥檚 pawn shop in Pompeii, Italy.
In 1962, he found a rolled-up canvas with an asymmetrical painting of a woman in the basement of the villa on the nearby island of Capri.
The painting is now believed to be a distorted image of French photographer and poet Dora Maar, who was Picasso鈥檚 lover, according to Luca Gentile Canal Marcante, an art expert and honorary president of the Swiss-based art restoration non-profit Arcadia Foundation.
The oil painting on canvas features Picasso鈥檚 asymmetrical style of a woman in a blue dress with red lipstick.
At just 24, Lo Rosso didn鈥檛 appreciate that the signature in the upper left corner of the artwork that read simply 鈥淧icasso鈥 meant anything, his son Andrea Lo Rosso told CNN on Tuesday.
The older Lo Rosso, who died in 2021, stuck it in a cheap frame and gave it to his wife 鈥 much to her chagrin, his son said.
She didn鈥檛 think it was pretty enough to sell, so it hung in the family home for about 50 years and later in a restaurant they owned.
鈥淲hen mom hung it on the wall to decorate the house, renaming it 鈥榯he scribble鈥 due to the strangeness of the woman鈥檚 face depicted, I wasn鈥檛 even born yet,鈥 Andrea Lo Rosso said.
鈥淔rom dad鈥檚 stories I know that there were two canvases recovered from the Capri dump site. However, only one was signed by Picasso. Both were covered with earth and lime and my mother spread them out and washed them with detergent, as if they were carpets.鈥
In the 1980s, when Andrea Lo Rosso was in grade school, he saw Picasso鈥檚 鈥淏uste de femme Dora Maar鈥 in an art history textbook and learned that the Spanish painter spent time in Capri in the 1950s.
He then told his parents the painting might just be of value.
The asymmetrical painting of a woman was found in the basement of a villa in Capri. (Andrea LoRosso via CNN Newsource)
Thus began a decades-long journey to authenticate the signature on the artwork.
The family said they contacted art historians, many of whom told them it wasn鈥檛 an original, but offered to take it off their hands.
Suspicious, they registered it with Italy鈥檚 patrimony police, who first thought it might be stolen, but, since it was not authenticated at the time, allowed the family to keep it.
The artwork has been locked in a vault in Milan since 2019. Finally, last month Cinzia Altieri, a graphologist for a patrimony court in Milan, was able to certify the Picasso signature as authentic.
Altieri worked on the painting for months, comparing it with other Picasso works and running forensic tests to make sure it was signed around the same time it was painted.
鈥淭here is no doubt that the signature is his,鈥 she said in a statement to local Italian media Monday. 鈥淭here was no evidence to demonstrate its apocryphal nature.鈥
Art expert Marcante, who has worked with the Lo Russo family, told CNN he鈥檚 confident the painting is authentic.
The Lo Rossos鈥 painting is likely to be worth around 鈧6 million (US$6.6 million), according to Altieri and Marcante鈥檚 assessments, based on the current art market.
If certified by the Picasso Foundation in Paris, it become even more valuable.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy but let鈥檚 wait to toast, there is still one step to take before we consider this incredible story over,鈥 Andrea Lo Rosso said.
鈥淚 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.鈥
CNN鈥檚 has contacted the Picasso Foundation for comment.
Lo Rosso and his siblings say that when it is finally recognized by the Picasso Foundation, which could more than double its value, they will auction it off in honor of their father, who wanted the painting to be certified and sold.
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