AMESBURY, Massachusetts (AP) – A mixed media painting attributed to Pablo Picasso was sold after spending 50 years in a closet in a Maine home.
Massachusetts-based John McInnis Auctioneers confirmed the painting, entitled “Le Tricorne,” sold on Saturday, the Boston Globe reported.
The 16 by 16 inch (40 by 40 centimeter) painting is signed and dated 1919. It is believed to be a study for the stage curtain Picasso painted for a ballet of the same name that year in London debuted the New York Historical Society. This curtain has been on display at the Historical Society in New York City since 2015.
The website liveauctioneers.com reported that the painting was sold for $ 150,000, plus a buyer’s premium of 24%.
Neither the buyer nor the seller were named, but the seller made a statement on the website that the painting was found in a closet of a house his father inherited from a female relative who was studying art in Europe in the 1920s .
“This painting was discovered in a house of my great-aunt that was inherited from her uncle in the late 1930s,” the statement said. “There were several paintings that had been kept in a closet for 50 years (including this example) that she left behind at the time the house was handed over to my father and now to me.”
The buyer has at least 120 days to authenticate the painting with the Claude Picasso Administration, which is administered by the artist’s son.
Contact the distributor of this article, The Boston Globe, for copyright information.
