Artwork Attributed to Picasso Discovered in Maine Closet After Half a Century

While it seems the height of absurdity to say so, one could never imagine how often it happens that paintings by the great masters of art are found in people’s penthouses.

In recent years, GNN has reported on a possible Da Vinci found hiding in a Scottish farmhouse. Then there was the case of a Fra Angelico Renaissance masterpiece being discovered in a modest house in the middle of England.

Now, a recent auction in Massachusetts with rare pieces of art collected from properties around the Northeast has seen a previously unknown painting by Pablo Picasso that sold for $ 150,000.

Depicts wealthy Spaniards attending the bullring, believed to be a preparatory sketch for a stage curtain as part of a 1919 Russian ballets production (has yet to be officially authenticated by the Picasso estate).

It was found hidden with other paintings in the closet of a home belonging to a recently deceased relative of a New England man.

It wouldn’t be the first time a Picasso has appeared where one wouldn’t expect: a decade ago, GNN reported that hundreds of works by Picasso, collected by a French electrician, had been received by a museum as a gift.

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According to a statement By the anonymous seller on the auction house website, the Maine house in which the drawing work was found belonged to the man’s great-aunt – he had studied in Europe, liked to bring things back to America, and In general, he led an exciting life.

The man then became the owner of the house when his father inherited it after his great-aunt passed away.

The 16 × 16 image on paper is believed to be a preliminary mockup for the curtain that would act as a backdrop for The Tricorn, which debuted at the Alhambra Theater in London after the First World War.

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The actual curtain that Picasso would later make measures 20 feet by 19 feet, and is currently at the New York Historical Society after spending 55 years on the wall of the Four Seasons restaurant. Picasso also designed the sets and costumes for the play.

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