DECADES AGO, A JUNK ENTREPRENEUR UNWITTINGLY DISCOVERED A LOST PICASSO PAINTING IN A BASEMENT
Junk is a great word. It connotes the worthless errata that piles up everywhere. But it also hints at the occasional mystery, as people look thru junk all the time looking for treasure. And sometimes, they find some form of treasure. Though to be fair that usually means something along the lines of a designer label no one else saw first at a thrift store. But you get the idea, and there’s a reason junk has a market, and that some try to be the successful junk entrepreneur others would be jealous of. But I can’t imagine anything better than finding a lost Picasso painting in someone’s basement.
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AT THE TIME, THE JUNK ENTREPRENEUR HAD NO IDEA HE HAD DISCOVERED A VALUABLE PICASSO PAINTING
But that’s exactly what one junk entrepreneur did. His name is Luigi Lo Rosso, and as a younger gentleman he pored thru garbage dumps and empty homes in Italy, looking for salacious bits for the family shop in Pompei. But this junk entrepreneur made his biggest score without ever knowing his own success. It was back in 1962 when he was exploring an empty villa in Capri when he found the strangest painting in the home’s basement. It was rolled up, and when he unraveled it he saw the weird face you see in the painting above. But at that time the style and the signature didn’t mean anything to young Lo Rosso.
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AFTER HANGING ANONYMOUSLY IN THEIR HOME FOR 50 YEARS, THEY REALIZED WEIRD ART MIGHT BE A PICASSO
But despite its oddness and anonymity, he took it home, had it framed and in something of a joke gave it to his wife. She thought it wasn’t pretty enough to sell, but she hung it up in the family’s home for about 50 years, and then later in a restaurant they owned. And somehow, over all that time, no one realized they had a Picasso painting. But then in the 80’s their son learned that Picasso spent time in Capri in the 1950’s and wondered that the painting might be something special. And just last month, experts confirmed it is indeed a Picasso and is worth about $6 million.
Now, all that’s left is certification from the Picasso Foundation, and then they’ll auction it off according to Luigi’s wishes, as he passed away in 2021.
