It wouldn’t be until Luigi’s son, Andrea, stumbled upon some of Picasso’s work in an art history book that the family thought anything significant of it.
Andrea Lo Rosso, now 60, states there were moments when the family almost got rid of the painting, since his mother kept saying it was “horrible,” but no one ever followed through with its removal. Over the years, Andrea attempted to get in contact with the Picasso Foundation in Málaga several times, but wasn’t taken seriously by the institution.
Though the foundation has final say on whether or not the painting will be considered part of Picasso’s oeuvre, which holds more than 14,000 pieces, third party experts have determined that the painting likely belongs to the Spaniard’s body of work.
In hopes of finding out the painting’s origins, the Lo Rosso family contacted a group of experts to assist with the authentication, including art detective Maurizio Seracini and Cinzia Altieri, a graphologist and member of the Arcadia Foundation— a scientific committee specializing in the valuation and restoration of artworks.