Authorities of Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts have considered, preliminarily and in the absence of more exhaustive reports, that the work attributed to Picasso, intercepted at Ibiza airport, is original and, therefore, the price invoiced by a Swiss gallery is in line with the market price.
As informed this Monday by the Ministry of Finance and Public Function, after the intervention of the work, steps were taken with the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Fine Arts of the Ministry of Culture, which contacted the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Ibiza, reporting positively, on a preliminary basis, on the originality of the piece intervened and its market value.
The intervention of the Picasso was carried out on July 5 and was advanced exclusively by Periódico de Ibiza y Formentera. The painting would be valued at more than 450,000 euros.
For the definitive accreditation, more exhaustive reports will be required, which will have to be carried out by experts in Picasso's work by means of advanced techniques.
Customs officials of the Tax Agency and agents of the Guardia Civil, as part of a joint operation, seized on July 5 a drawing attributed to Pablo Picasso. The work, 'Trois personnages' (1966), was found in the luggage of a traveler coming from Switzerland who was trying to introduce the painting into Spain without declaring it.
According to the Ministry of Finance and Public Function, the action has its origin in an information sent by the Customs of Switzerland to the Permanent Operational Coordination Center of the Customs Department of the Tax Agency about a traveler who, with origin in the Swiss country, was in a commercial flight Zurich-Ibiza carrying a work of art in circumstances that the Swiss authorities considered suspicious.
Following this information, an operation was set up by Customs officials of the Tax Agency and Guardia Civil agents to intercept the work, in case the traveler tried to introduce it without declaration, thus removing it from the control of the Spanish customs authorities.
Upon arrival at Ibiza Airport, the traveler denied that he had anything to declare. His luggage was immediately checked and a work of art with Picasso's signature was found inside. At that point, the traveler went on to claim that it was a copy and showed a handwritten invoice for 1,500 Swiss francs.
However, an in-depth search of his luggage revealed a second invoice, this time from an art gallery in Zurich for 450,000 Swiss francs, bearing the title of the 1966 work 'Trois personnages'.
The customs authorities thus proceeded to the intervention of the print for an alleged smuggling offense, as a work of art whose value clearly exceeds the established legal limits had been introduced from Switzerland without a declaration.
Since the value of the artwork exceeds 150,000 euros and it has been introduced without a customs declaration despite the express questions of the authorities, an alleged smuggling crime has been committed.
The lawful introduction of the work of art into Spain would have implied having to pay customs duties and import VAT, in addition to the administrative declaration obligations to which the merchandise was subject.
The work of art is at the disposal of the Court of Instruction 4 of Ibiza, which is in charge of the investigation of the facts.
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