Iraqi Discovered Picasso a Fake?

Iraqi police recently discovered and released news of what they thought was a Picasso originally thought stolen during the Kuwaiti invasion. The painting was seized last week as it was being offered for sale in the amount of $450,000.00.

The Associated Press is now reporting the Picasso is probably not authentic. After some preliminary research and reviews, the paintings authenticity is certainly in question. The marks and seals on the back have some unusual spelling with words in all lower case. One marking is from the Louvre, which claims it has never owned a Picasso, nor does not sell it works of art as they belong to the collection of France. The Art Loss Register also has no record of the painting.

The Associated Press article states:

The painting has a tag on the back with several misspellings that says it was sold by "the louvre" to "the museum of kuwait," with the words Louvre and Kuwait in lower case. There are also several stamps bearing the name of the Louvre Museum in Paris.

But an official with the Louvre Museum said it has never had a Picasso in its collection and does not sell its works because they are government property. The official spoke on condition of anonymity according to museum policy.

The London-based Art Loss Registry said it has no record of any paintings missing from the Kuwait National Museum, and no record of this particular painting as missing at all.

The Picasso Museum in Paris and France's national museum were searching their archives for signs of the painting, which Iraqi forces seized Tuesday during a raid on a house near Hillah, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of Baghdad.

A local judge in Hillah, Aqeel al-Janabi, said Thursday the painting will be sent to Baghdad after an investigation but refused to provide details.

To read the full Associated Press article, click HERE.