At a charity sale in the UK 52-year-old collector of Antiques Philip Stapleton stumbled upon a picture which he is so sunk into the soul that he spent almost $300. He was convinced that it was just a good fake, but experts say that picture could be written by the great Pablo Picasso.
Stapleton bought the work, which is considered an early version of «bathers seated on the banks of the sea!» in Brighton and Hove Auction House. The painting was recognized as not original after the master forger David Henti said that he painted it three years ago.
But the original owner of the work, Francis kiss, and then said that he first bought it 13 years ago at an antique store in his hometown of Chichester for $190. She hung on his wall for over ten years.
Then he gave «a Bather» to a friend in France so that he could show a picture of the artist’s family and confirmed its authenticity. When buddy was unable to meet with families Picasso, kiss delivered the painting to another friend who then accidentally sold it to Stapleton.
Kiss said he will not attempt to return the painting, but upset about what happened.
a collector of Antiques Philip Stapleton
«Signature is clearly Picasso, but with a message — you can try to understand what is written there, may be in Spanish, English or French, we’re not sure, but it definitely is the name of Roland, and the date,» reported Rosie Mei, General Manager of Brighton and Hove Auctions.
It is likely that the painting will be sold at least for $950 million, but a Picasso painting last sold for more than $130 million.
«The amazing thing is that we do — you never know what you have to go, — said in an interview with Andrew Potter, owner of Brighton and Hove Auction House, so if it’s real, we say to the owner of the amounts that are changing their lives. This is an exciting time for us because we’ve been in this business to help people.»
The painting will be auctioned at the end of this month.
Famous Spanish artist who is known for such paintings as «Guernica», «the Weeping woman» and «Les Demoiselles d’avignon», died in 1973 at the age of 91 years. In 2015, his painting «Algerian women» was sold in new York for $179 million and became the most expensive painting ever sold at auction.
