A family hangs a Picasso painting for 50 years without knowing it

Pablo Picasso‘s signature on the painting found by Luigi Lo Rosso, a junk dealer in Pompeii, who until recently had never imagined that he had a treasure inside his house, is authentic.

Confirmation of the authenticity of the ‘Portrait of Dora Maar’ actually came at the start of September, with the expert report conducted by graphologist Cinzia Altieri, a consultant at the court in Milan, but the news only became public knowledge over the last few days.

In 1962, while clearing out the cellar of a villa in Capri, a man found a rolled-up canvas depicting the dishevelled face of a woman. Although the signature ‘Picasso’ was clearly visible in the top left-hand corner, the name did not ring any bells for Lo Rosso, then 24 years old, who decided to take the canvas home and hang it in his living room.

The story of the discovery of the ‘Portrait of Dora Maar’

For 50 years, the painting remained in the family’s living room, earning the nickname ‘the gouge’ for the asymmetrical shapes typical of the artist’s style.

It was only in the early 2000s that Lo Rosso’s eldest son pointed out to his parents the strong resemblance between the painting hanging in the living room and Picasso’s works depicted in his school books, suggesting the possibility of having an original in the house.

Although the idea was initially dismissed, the resemblance to the Cubist master’s masterpieces was such that doubt began to build among the family members, who eventually paid for the expertise.

Analysis confirmed the authenticity of the Picasso painting

After numerous analyses, consultations and comparisons with other works, an initial confirmation arrived unexpectedly. The painting, created between the 1940s and 1950s, could be a portrait of the French poetess Dora Maar, Picasso’s companion for nine years. There is also another work called ‘Buste de Femme Dora Maar’ and the hypothesis is that Picasso made two different portraits of the woman, at different times.

The painting was seized shortly afterwards, allegedly stolen, and then returned to its owners. But the vicissitudes of the Pompeii family do not end there. The biggest obstacle is the refusal of the Picasso Foundation in Paris, run by the painter’s sons, to consider the painting.

Thus, Lo Rosso turned to the Arcadia Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to enhancing artistic heritage. The President of the Foundation, Luca Gentile Canal Marcante, put together a team of specialists for a new series of analyses thanks to which the work’s originality was confirmed, crowned by the authentication of the signature by Altieri.

The painting in the living room of the Lo Rosso family, currently kept by Luigi’s sons in a vault in Milan, has been valued at six million euros. If the work is recognised by the Picasso Foundation, its value could rise to up to 12 million euros.

For now, that valuation will not make the Lo Russo bank account richer. “That painting is a piece of the Lo Rosso family of Pompeii and is not for sale. We are only looking for an evaluation, but we are not selling it, because that was my father’s will, who is no longer with us,” says Andrea Lo Rosso, who says he is ‘satisfied and happy’ with the recent recognition.