A counterfeited Picasso painting was seized from an auction house in Portugal and handed over to Italian authorities, according to information from the PJ. This operation was part of an international effort that recovered 104 falsified artworks across 14 countries, including Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. These included forgeries of works by Pablo Picasso, Edvard Munch, and Paul Klee.
The Minotauro bis operation, which began in 2022, recovered several artworks being sold as originals and distributed worldwide, particularly to the United States, as announced by the Carabinieri, Italy’s military police.
“The operation also succeeded in removing artworks from the market that could have fetched the same prices as the originals had they not been identified and blocked in time,” stated the Italian police. They added that if sold, these items could have caused approximately one million euros in losses to buyers.
During the operation, an investigating judge ordered the seizure of five bank accounts and two cars, with an approximate value of 300,000 euros.
The Rome Prosecutor’s Office, in collaboration with Eurojust, issued 13 European investigation orders and nine requests for legal assistance in countries within and outside the European Union, including Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
The counterfeiting process involved using paper marked with watermarks “Vollard” (a contemporary art dealer) and “Picasso” (the Spanish painter). The true images were digitized using graphic design software, and a specialist created models for printing.
These models, along with the counterfeit paper, were used to make copies. To enhance authenticity, the paper was artificially aged with coffee and tea baths, followed by the addition of forged artist signatures.
Once completed, the forgeries were sent to foreign auction houses with false free circulation certificates to evade potential controls and validate their authenticity.
