Lost Picasso Found in Basement of Indiana Museum

After being reported lost for nearly 50 years, Pablo Picasso's masterpiece Seated Woman with Red Hat has been unearthed in the storage of an Indiana museum.
Described as sparkling 'like a jewel,' the long-lost piece was discovered after an auction house in New York inquired about the art work's gifting to the Evansville Museum in 1963. At the time of its donation it was not believed to have been an actual work by Picasso, despite its signature, and so never saw the museum's walls.

Found: Pablo Picasso's Seated Woman with Red Hat has been unearthed from the Evansville Museum in Indiana after reported lost for nearly 50 years

'When the Evansville Museum received the gift, associated documentation indicated that the piece was created by an artist named “Gemmaux”,' the museum said in a release this week. 'Gemmaux,' the plural of 'gemmail,' they explained, is an artist's technique of layering glass, while adding a clear liquid enamel across the surface before firing it up.  This technique was rare for Picasso who only produced 50 or more during his study at a studio in France. 

However, in 1963, someone at the museum, believing the artist of the piece was this unknown Gemmaux, consigned the priceless work of art to storage in the basement of the museum where it remained for nearly 50 years. This year, Guernsey's of New York, while researching Picasso's gemmaux works, came across a listing of a gemmaux piece in a catalog from the Evansville Museum and asked to see it. The representative from Guernsey's recognized the masterpiece.

 'It was undoubtedly a unique set of circumstances that uncovered this treasure within our museum,' said the museum's executive director John Streetman in a release.

Missed chance: The artwork was gifted to the museum, pictured, in 1963 but misidentified in their catalog by the donor causing it to never hang once on their walls

He described it as 'extraordinary,' and said 'it sparkles like a jewel.' The museum noted at the time that Picasso’s signature does appear on the artwork's top right-hand corner and mentioned the fact in its cataloguing.

Despite such a legendary find stashed right beneath their nose, the museum announced on Monday their plans, with heavy hearts, to take it to auction. 'Now that we have a full understanding of the requirements and additional expenses to display, secure, preserve and insure the piece, it is clear those additional costs would place a prohibitive financial burden on the museum,' said R Steven Krohn, president of the museum's board of trustees in a statement.
'It is in the best interest of the Evansville Museum to sell this work of art.'


Guernsey’s will conduct a private selling of the art work with the auction house not releasing an estimation of its upcoming sale.
Still one of the world’s reigning top artists, Picasso's Garcon a la Pipe, painted when he was aged 24, is one of the most expensive works of art having been sold for $104 million (£58 million) in 2004.
In 2006 his Dora Maar au Chat sold for $95.2 million, the second-highest amount ever paid for a painting at auction at that time.

If  the gemmaux work  is sold privately, It will still never be seen  by the general public. I find that very sad and a little unfair. Surely great art belongs to us all and should be displayed where we can all appreciate it.