Born in Spain in 1881, Picasso is believed to have completed 13,500 paintings and around 100,000 engravings during his lifetime
Spanish authorities have issued a statement confirming the authenticity of a sketch attributed to Pablo Picasso that was seized at Ibiza airport on July 5 from a passenger on a flight from Zurich, Switzerland, according to “El Pais”.
The expert opinion, which was issued at the request of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, still needs to be supported by further exhibitions using advanced art authentication techniques.
What is believed to be an original sketch by Pablo Picasso was carried on a flight from Zurich to Ibiza as hand luggage, packed in a cardboard cylinder. Nothing was declared.
On July 5, Swiss authorities notified Spanish customs that a traveler flying from Zurich to Ibiza was carrying a valuable work of art, despite the traveler’s insistence that it was not an original.
The passenger denied having anything to declare when going through customs for non-EU travellers, leading to a search of his luggage and the discovery of the drawing signed by Pablo Picasso. The passenger again insisted that it was a copy and even produced a handwritten invoice to confirm the purchase of the sketch for the sum of 1,500 Swiss francs, i.e. 1,514 euros.
Searching further, Spanish customs officials then found another invoice from an art gallery in Zurich for 450,000 Swiss francs, about 450,000 euros.
Customs then began negotiations with the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture, who contacted a contemporary art expert from the Eivissa Contemporary Art Museum in Ibiza. The latter stated that the work was an authentic work by Picasso, with a value approaching the 450,000 euros listed on the invoice.
Final certification of the work will be done soon using advanced art analysis techniques. Meanwhile, the 1966 artwork is being held by the courts.
Born in Spain in 1881, Picasso is believed to have completed 13,500 paintings and around 100,000 engravings during his lifetime. He was a prolific cartoonist, with his drawings often selling at auction for tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. In 2017, his 1940 ink drawing “Le Viol” fetched nearly $8.7 million at Sotheby’s in New York.
Art experts will further analyze the work “Trois personnages”, as part of an ongoing investigation. Goods imported into Spain from countries outside the European Union, including Switzerland, are subject to customs duties and VAT.
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