YOKOHAMA — A Chinese couple from Beijing successfully bid for a painting believed to be a Picasso in an auction held Wednesday by the Kanagawa Prefectural Government.
The couple, who said they own a company in the Chinese capital, bid 20 million yen for "Tete d'Homme," one of the master's late pieces, painted in March 1969. Prefectural authorities confiscated the painting in fiscal 2004 from a Yokohama-based company that was unable to pay taxes.
According to prefectural officials, 33 people took part in the auction, which started the bidding at 2 million yen. The successful bid was placed about three minutes into the auction.
The couple later told reporters they learned about the auction from a friend who lives in Japan.
"Collecting paintings is our hobby, and we had always wanted a Picasso," the woman said. "We were willing to pay up to 30 million yen for it."
A prefectural official explained that there is presently no official organization that judges whether a painting was really done by Pablo Picasso. Kanagawa officials found that a work of the same title and dimensions — 28.3 cm × 21.6 cm — as the one they seized was in the Christian Zervos Catalogues, which is considered one measure of authenticity.
They also received permission to show the painting on flyers and the Internet from an entity that manages copyrights of Picasso's works.