Paintings

Italian who claims father bequeathed him unseen Picassos worth £150m is accused of fraud

April 20, 20242 Mins Read


Salvatore Nocera, Mr Santelia’s solicitor, told The Telegraph: “My client is accused of falsifying the work of Picasso, but we have proof that these works are real.

“They are 36 drawings, prints and oil paintings that Marcello Santelia inherited from his father Giovanni, who was an art dealer who knew Picasso. Giovanni Santelia received the pieces from Picasso himself.

“Marcello Santelia wanted to export one of the works, a painting of Dora Maar, and sought to obtain an export licence for it. But the prosecutors intervened and after an investigation declared it to be a fake, along with the others. We dispute this.”

Mr Nocera says evidence will be presented in court showing that the works have been authenticated after being scientifically examined by experts.

One of them will be Professor Alberto Bravo, an Italian expert in graphology and handwriting who is expected to testify as to the authenticity of the Picasso signatures on the works.

Diarist wrote of visit to Picasso home

Mr Santelia was the director of Worcester-based building firm Radnage Construction from 2014 until the firm was dissolved three years later. He now lives in the town of Nocera Inferiore, in southern Italy’s Campania region.

It is understood his father Giovanni is said to have brought the works back to the family home in Nocera Inferiore after buying them from Picasso, a friend of his, at some point during the 1950s.

The diary of one English traveller, Pete Smith, records a visit Giovanni Santelia paid to Picasso’s home in Mougins, south east France, during Christmas 1955.

On Dec 13 that year, Smith wrote in his diary: “Roger’s to collect Santelia Giovanni en-route to meeting Pablo [Picasso] in Mougins for Christmas.”

The following day he recorded that Picasso gave his guests some of his work, writing: “Arrive Mougins with Roger, Santelia Giovanni and Pablo. As always he has pictures for all of us to take home.”



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