Italian who claims father bequeathed him unseen Picassos worth £150m is accused of fraud

Paintings and drawings said to be previously unseen works by Pablo Picasso and worth more than £150 million are at the centre of a bitter legal dispute over their authenticity.

An Italian businessman with links to the UK is being taken to court in Italy accused of trying to pass off fake works as genuine, in what could be one of the most sensational art fraud cases in years.

Prosecutors in Rome brought the charges against Marcello Santelia after he tried to obtain an export licence for the sale of one of the works.

Mr Santelia, 76, vigorously denies the accusations, maintaining that the 36 paintings and drawings are genuine Picassos which he inherited from his father Giovanni, an art dealer and friend of the artist.

Prosecutors at Rome’s central court, the Tribunale di Roma, will seek to prove that Mr Santelia committed fraud by knowingly trying to sell a fake work when the case opens on Monday.

They launched their investigation into the authenticity of the collection after he tried to sell one of the pieces, a portrait of Picasso’s lover and muse Dora Maar with the title “Dora Maar con cappello [with hat]”.

If genuine, such a painting by Picasso would be expected to fetch several million pounds at auction.

But questions were raised over its provenance and authenticity after Mr Santelia applied to the Italian authorities for an export licence to take it out of the country for auction in London.

Mr Santelia, who ran a construction company in Worcester before moving back to his native Italy, will call a number of expert witnesses in his defence to testify as to the authenticity of the works, which are said to have been produced by Picasso between 1943 and 1956.

It is understood the Picasso Administration, the Paris-based body which holds the rights to all of the artist’s work, will give evidence for the prosecution.

Salvatore Nocera, Mr Santelia’s solicitor, told The Telegraph: “My client is accused of falsifying the work of Picasso, but we have proof that these works are real.

“They are 36 drawings, prints and oil paintings that Marcello Santelia inherited from his father Giovanni, who was an art dealer who knew Picasso. Giovanni Santelia received the pieces from Picasso himself.

“Marcello Santelia wanted to export one of the works, a painting of Dora Maar, and sought to obtain an export licence for it. But the prosecutors intervened and after an investigation declared it to be a fake, along with the others. We dispute this.”

Mr Nocera says evidence will be presented in court showing that the works have been authenticated after being scientifically examined by experts.

One of them will be Professor Alberto Bravo, an Italian expert in graphology and handwriting who is expected to testify as to the authenticity of the Picasso signatures on the works.

Diarist wrote of visit to Picasso home

Mr Santelia was the director of Worcester-based building firm Radnage Construction from 2014 until the firm was dissolved three years later. He now lives in the town of Nocera Inferiore, in southern Italy’s Campania region.

It is understood his father Giovanni is said to have brought the works back to the family home in Nocera Inferiore after buying them from Picasso, a friend of his, at some point during the 1950s.

The diary of one English traveller, Pete Smith, records a visit Giovanni Santelia paid to Picasso’s home in Mougins, south east France, during Christmas 1955.

On Dec 13 that year, Smith wrote in his diary: “Roger’s to collect Santelia Giovanni en-route to meeting Pablo [Picasso] in Mougins for Christmas.”

The following day he recorded that Picasso gave his guests some of his work, writing: “Arrive Mougins with Roger, Santelia Giovanni and Pablo. As always he has pictures for all of us to take home.”

A London-based associate of Mr Santelia said: “These are very significant works of art which Picasso sold to Marcello’s father Giovanni, who brought them back to Italy. Until now they have remained in his private collection.”

The most expensive Picasso painting ever sold at auction is Les Femmes d’Alger (Version ‘O’) (1955), which generated a record £143 million at Christie’s in 2015.

Frederick Mulder, a London-based art dealer who specialises in Picasso prints, said: “If these works are indeed authentic Picassos they would be of great significance for admirers and collectors everywhere.

“Picasso produced many prints in his lifetime, but there would be huge interest - particularly in any paintings among the collection.”