Original Picasso Found in Italian Basement—How to Tell if Your Art Find Is Worth Millions

It’s not uncommon for families to pass down prized possessions over the years, but it can be quite shocking to learn that one of those items is worth a large amount of money. That was the case for one Italian family, who recently confirmed that a painting that had been with them for decades was an original of famous artist Pablo Picasso. Find out more about their discovery, plus tips on how to determine if your own collected artwork is valuable.

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How was the original Picasso painting found?

In 1962, Luigi Lo Rosso found a rolled-up canvas of a painting in the basement of an Italian villa on the island of Capri, CNN reports . At the time he acted as a junk dealer and combed abandoned houses and landfills for hidden treasures. Anything he found would end up being sold in his family’s pawn shop in Pompeii, Italy.

The oil painting he stumbled upon features an asymmetrical portrait of a woman in a blue dress with red lipstick, fitting with Picasso’s famous style. But the most important element of the find was the unmistakable “Picasso” signature found in the upper left corner of the artwork.

Despite the signature, Lo Rosso didn’t think much of the painting’s significance, so he stuck the canvas in a cheap frame and gave it to his wife. She didn’t appear captivated by the artwork either, so she simply hung it up in the family’s home (where it stayed for 50 years) and then a family-owned restaurant.

“When mom hung it on the wall to decorate the house, renaming it ‘the scribble’ due to the strangeness of the woman’s face depicted, I wasn’t even born yet,” his son Andrea Lo Rosso told CNN.

The younger Lo Rosso also revealed that the painting was one of two canvases recovered from that dump site. According to a story from his dad (who died in 2021), both were covered with dirt and lime and were cleaned by Andrea’s mother in the most casual way possible: Spreading them out and washing them with detergent.

How was the original Picasso painting authenticated?

When Andrea was in college, he came across a piece of artwork from Picasso in an art history textbook depicting Dora Maar—the same subject in his family’s recovered painting. After confirming that the artist spent time in Capri during the ‘50s, Andrea told his parents that they likely had a unique treasure.

Naturally, the family wanted to find out if the work of art was, in fact, a Picasso. According to Good News Network , the process took decades and Andrea went through the proper channels by registering it with Italy’s patrimony police.

There were suspicions, however, that the painting was stolen. Since that couldn’t be proven though, the family was able to keep it. While the hunt for authentication continued, the artwork was locked in a vault in Milan in 2019 for safekeeping.

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This year, the long process began to pay off. Cinzia Altieri, a graphologist for a patrimony court in Milan, spent months working on the painting. He meticulously compared it with other works by the artist and even ran forensic tests to ensure the canvas was signed around the same time it was painted.

That careful investigation led to a happy ending for the family in September; Altieri was finally able to confirm the Picasso signature as authentic. According to CNN, the painting is estimated to be worth around $6.6 million ($6.6 million). If it gets certified by the Picasso Foundation in Paris, it will become even more valuable.

How to identify valuable art

Though you may not stumble across a Picasso original in an abandoned basement, you never know if a piece of art could be worth something. Whether you find one at a thrift store , flea market or a family member’s attic, you’ll want to know if you have a piece of valuable art on your hands. Follow these tips:

Check to see if it’s an original or reproduction

Generally, paintings and sculptures will not be worth much if they are reprints or reproductions of their original piece. For that reason, it’s important to investigate if the artwork came right from its artist. One way to tell: “If the surface of the artwork is rough and uneven, it is likely an original,” shares Dr. Micah Christensen of Anthony’s Fine Art in this video . Any numbers or printed information on the front mean it’s likely a reproduction.

Look at the canvas

One of the easiest ways to tell the general age of a painting is by knowing what type of canvas was used! “If the canvas is very bright white, you want to make sure that you know that you’re getting something newer,” says antiques appraiser Dr. Lori in the video below. “If it’s darker in color, it’s probably older in age.” Though there is no guarantee that an older painting will be valuable, it likely will be worth more than a newer piece of art.

Search for the signature

Without a signature, even the best of art experts likely won’t be able to confirm if your piece is an original. The pros at Austin Galleries say you’ll usually find this on the bottom left or right of a piece, but it’s not unusual to see it at the top or somewhere in the painting.

Having trouble reading it? “First try guessing what it says plus ‘artist’ and searching Google images,” they write. “Look through the results to try and find a painting of the same style and then check if that piece has a matching signature.” Taking a photo of the painting and adding it to Google Lens can also come in handy.

Compare to the artist’s other works

Once you can confirm the artist, you’ll want to see how this particular piece compares to others they’ve created. Search the artist’s name on Google, then click on the “shopping” section. This will give you a better idea of price information, specifically from sources like gallery websites, auction records and fine-art marketplaces.

Other elements that make a painting more valuable:

• No rips, tears or cracks. “If there are issues with the painting, this will decrease the value,” write the experts at Gary Germer appraisers . “Someone will have to pay more to touch the painting up.”
• The subject matter. While an original piece from a famous artist will be worth something regardless of the content, that’s not always the case for lesser-known creators. Generally, portraits of beautiful women tend to be worth the most.
• A high-quality frame. It should match the century of the painting, but sometimes an extravagant frame can even be worth more than the actual picture.
• A large size. The bigger the painting, the more attention it gets—and this means more money.
• Lots of red. “In the past, red has been the color that has brought in the most money,” write the Gary Germer appraisers. “In fact, red paintings earned about $21,000 more than other paintings.”

Still not sure what your discovered work of art is worth? Consider contacting a professional appraiser, who can help you determine its value.

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