THAILAND: BUSINESSMAN SEEKS TO PROVE OWNERSHIP OF RARE PICASSO PAINTING.

Record ID: 774589

  • Title: THAILAND: BUSINESSMAN SEEKS TO PROVE OWNERSHIP OF RARE PICASSO PAINTING.
  • Date: 27th July 2004
  • Summary: (L!3) BANGKOK, THAILAND (JULY 27,2004) (REUTERS) WIDE OF ROOM WITH SITTHA TIANUKRIT, FRIENDS AND OTHER OWNERS OF THE "ORIGINAL CARMEN" SITTHA TAKING PAINTING OUT OF CARRYING CASE SITTHA SHOWING PAINTING CLOSE ON FACE OF "ORIGINAL CARMEN" CLOSE ON SIGNATURE VARIOUS CLOSE ON PAINTING SITTHA LOOKING AT BOOKS ON PICASSO SITTHA TALKING SITTHA FLICKING THROUGH BOOKS SI
  • Embargoed: 11th August 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BANGKOK, THAILAND
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Arts,General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7QWPQDUWT4IW1SPI5L59R885V
  • Story Text: A Thai businessman seeks to prove he owns a long-lost Picasso.
    A Thai businessman and amateur art enthusiast has spent the last 20 years trying to prove that a family-owned portrait is an undiscovered Picasso.
    After a career in banking specialising in spotting faked signatures and phoney documents, Sittha Tianukrit's (pronounced: Si-ta tee-en-oo-krid) expertise is now focused solely on trying to prove that the faded name at the bottom of the pastel portrait is that of the Sapnish master.
    His self-penned book "Discovered Picasso in Thailand"
    is the result of a decades-long quest which saw him quit his job, travel across continents and even learn Spanish in the hopes of proving that the portrait is an adolescent work by the Spanish master. Old letters, signature analysis and style comparisons with known Picasso's make up the bulk of the book , with a final section of endorsements by local artists and art historians.
    Sittah named the pastel "Original Carmen", as he believes it to be the same woman depicted in Picasso's 1989 charcoal sketch "Carmen", which is currently on display in Barcelona. "Everyone knows that Picasso drew this picture ("Carmen") on the fifth of February 1898. When you compare the two, you can tell immediately that they have been drawn from the same woman, and that makes me really believe that these two pictures have been drawn by the same artist,"
    said Sittha.
    The painting has been in Thailand for over a hundred years -- after reportedly being given to King Rama V when visiting Queen Maria Christina of Spain in 1897.
    But critics question how Picasso, an unknown 16-year-old at the time, could have gotten such royal recognition.
    Picasso created more than 20,000 works of art in his 92 years. So far, no international experts have stepped forward to back the claims being made by the Thai consortium.
    But if proved genuine, it is thought "Original Carmen"
    could sell for up to $200,000 U.S. dollars.
    Sittha says his next step is to find out the story of the model behind 'Carmen".
    "I think I have enough information on the history of how the picture came into Thailand, and I have enough evidence to prove that this is the work of Picasso. I have been through all of this, so my task now is to find out who Carmen is" he said.
    He believes it to be the Spanish artist's wife Henriette Nigrin (1877 - 1965).
    Picasso's "Boy with the pipe" set a new world record for the most expensive painting ever sold at auction when it soared to $104,168,000 U.S. dollarsat Sotheby's in May 2004.
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