On last October 25th, Pablo Picasso would have turned 140 years old, yet his art is still very current. He remains an extremely important artist for the history of art and the icon of genius.
He chose the Genoese surname, Picasso, of his mother, because it was rarer and more intriguing than Ruiz, the surname of his father, although he owed the start of his career as an artist to him, who was an art teacher.
From a very young age Pablo produced paintings of astonishing quality. He later said of himself: “At the age of four I painted like Raphael, it took me a lifetime to paint like a child”.
And probably because of his “painting as a child”, Picasso seems easy to fake.
However, this is not at all the case. No paint bruch can be changed without the painting suddenly no longer “work”.
But not everyone is able to appreciate the difference, and a large number of counterfeiters actually continue to try, probably also in consideration of the always very high prices of a Picasso. Just look at Sotheby’s recent results.
But maybe you do not know about Picasso the forger, as it was according to Arthur Koestler’s book “The Act of Creation”.
In the book we read that an art dealer, having bought a canvas signed “Picasso”, decided to go to Cannes to meet the master and find out if it was authentic. Picasso was working in his studio. He cast a single glance at the canvas and ruled: “It’s a fake.”
A few months later the merchant bought another canvas signed by Picasso. Again he went to Cannes and again Picasso, after a single glance, grunted: “It’s a fake.”
“Ma cher maitre”, exclaimed the merchant, “I saw you with my own eyes while you were working on this very painting several years ago.”
Picasso shrugged and replied: “I often paint fakes.”
A genius who tried to select the legacy with which he wanted to be remembered? Of course, these are not fakes that we can detect with our techniques.
On the other hand, we have encountered many false “real” ones, who arrived in the laboratory with the most incredible stories, and, unfortunately, at times, also causing very strong disappointments, and huge losses.
Especially when there are millions at stake, do the analysis BEFORE you buy!
