1MDB: a Picasso offered in DiCaprio put on sale by the United States

The canvas signed “Picasso 28.1.39” presents “no trace of retouching or adding to the original drawing”. This is what the report of nine pages promises which attests to the conditions of conservation of the table “Tête de Taureau and Broc”. “A single fine vertical crack (about 2.5 cm long) in the paint layer is visible under UV light”, but it “does not affect the integrity of the work, does not require any conservation intervention and is not visible under normal lighting”.

The official document concludes that the general condition of the canvas is “good to excellent”. But he does not say a word of the incredible trajectory of this Picasso, offered as a gift to Leonardo DiCaprio by Jho Low, the Malaysian financier brain of The 1MDB caseone of the biggest Kleptocracy scandals in recent history. Only one sentence in red, at the top of the first page of the report, betrays the sulphurous aura of the masterpiece: “active in the United States government care on December 12, 2017 and has since kept in an environment controlled in terms of climate and humidity”.

This painting of Pablo Picasso is offered at auction until September 4 by the American Department of Justice. From the workshop of the Spanish Master to the Frankish Ports of Geneva via the most important players in the art market, the case follows a winding and fascinating route.

Response to the fall of Barcelona

The art market is not a model of transparency. Buyers generally remain discreet. As for merchants and auction houses, they have every interest in preserving the anonymity of their customers and the confidentiality of transactions. To track the web, we have peel the reports, justice documents, press articles, auction results and archive images on which it appears.

Also known by the title of “Deed nature in the skull of Taurus”, the painting “Tête de Taureau et Broc” bears, alongside the signing of Picasso, the date of January 28, 1939. This is not a detail. Two days earlier, on January 26, the city of Barcelona, the heart of Catalonia so dear to the artist, went to the army of General Franco.

This canvas constitutes Picasso’s response to this capitulation. Taurus skull – Spain’s emblem – symbolizes here the death of the nation and brutality of conflicts. As in “Guernica”, his 1937 painting which denounced The bombardment of the Basque city ordered by Spanish nationalists and carried out jointly by Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.

The first years of its existence, the painting follows a classic trajectory. As evidenced by the label eaved still present on the back of the chassis, he is taken care of in Paris by the Louise Leiris gallery, named after the daughter of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, the Picasso merchant from his beginnings who resumed his father’s affairs. The canvas appeared there on January 9, 1960, during a charity auction.

The painting then crosses the Atlantic. A second indication, also still present on the back of the frame, testifies: «Saidenberg Gallery 10 East 77 Street New York 21, NY». It is the gallery which represents the Spanish artist in the United States until the 1970s. In 1971, the canvas was part of the works presented During the exhibition “Homage to Picasso” Organized jointly with the Marlborough gallery for the painter’s 90th anniversary.

The Picasso resurfaces in 2007

Then the painting seems to disappear from radars for decades. He resurfaced in May 2007 Chez Christie’s in London. We see it in several photos taken during the exhibition preceding the auction evening in New York. But on the company’s internet portal, there is no longer any trace of the table and price of its auction. “At the time, we only keep on our site the results of the works that had been successfully sold,” explains Maison Christie’s.

Ten years later, in 2017, the Picasso reappeared in a 250 -page complaint filed by the American justice department Against Low Taek Jho, the civil name of Jho Low, the financier and main instigator of the 1MDB scandal. The anti -iblanching division indicates the confiscation of the assets obtained by diverting the money from the Malaysian sovereign fund.

The list of fraudulently acquired goods and values is long. There is in particular The Superyacht “Equanimity” (more than 300 feet …)a poster of the silent film of 1927 “Metropolis”, luxury apartments in New York, the rights and interests relating to the film “Dumb and Dumber 2”, diamonds, jewelry, works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, a photo of Diane Arbus … and the painting of the Spanish master, Switzerland located in Switzerland. Over the pages, mention is also made of the warehouse, at the Frankish ports in Geneva, where JHO Low stored his works of art.

A gift at $ 3.28 million

Let’s go back to the board that interests us. The complaint details: “At the surrounding area of January 2, 2014, around 3,280,000 dollars diverted […] have been used to acquire a painting entitled “Still life with Taurus skull” by Pablo Picasso […]an oil on canvas measuring 65.5 x 92.5 cm ”. It is then explained how the money required for the purchase of the canvas was bleached. From Jho Low’s personal account, it was transferred “via two transit accounts over a three -day period” to finally be fired to a Monaco art dealer to pay the work.

“This same month (Editor’s note: early 2014)Picasso’s painting was offered as a gift to DiCaprio, “says the complaint, which reproduces a small note accompanying the work and signed by Jho Low’s initials. “Dear Leonardo DiCaprio, happy birthday late!” This gift is for you! “

Leonardo DiCaprio makes his gifts

In 2017, the American star gave JHO LOW gifts to the authorities. The actor Then said by press that he “had received and accepted them in order to include them in an annual charity auction for the benefit of his foundation”. Leonardo Dicaprio also indicated that he had “returned an Oscar initially won by Marlon Brando” which had been given to him on the set of the “Wall Street wolf” by the production company Red Granite, in part funded with the funds diverted by the Malaysian fraudster.

Since July 16, The Picasso is offered at auction, on the Internet, By Gaston & Sheehan, a company that acts on the United States government mandate. Quickly exceeded, the starting bet was $ 850,000. A straw in relation to the real value of the tableexperts say.

The Picasso is not the only part to be offered to the most offender. Three other works, also confiscated by the American government as part of the 1MDB scandal, are in the catalog of this very special sale. A photo of Diane Arbus, “Exasperated Boy with Handgrenade in Central Park, NYC 1962”, as well as “Self Portrait” and “Red Man One”, both signed Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Only the self -portrait was not given as a gift to Leonardo DiCaprio by Jho Low. This table did not belong not to the Malaysian financier but to Joey McFarland, producer and co -founder of the production company Red Granite, to whom we owe in particular “the Wolf of Wall Street”. He also returned the work to the American authorities when the scandal broke out.

For the benefit of injured people

The product of federal seizures is generally donated to the US Treasury. Not this time: the funds for the sale of assets linked to the 1MDB case will benefit people who have been injured by corruption in Malaysia, promised The Ministry of Justice.

The auctions are open until September 4. How much could they report? According to justice documents, Diane Arbus’ photo had been bought $ 750,000, Basquiat’s collage more than $ 9 million and Picasso more than 3 million. As for the self -portrait of Basquiat, He could also go for several million dollars. Unless buyers are put off by the sulphurous aura acquired by the proximity of works with the scandal of the century …

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