Picasso sketchbook

This attention-getting Picasso sketchbook is thought to be one of the few Picasso sketchbooks still in private hands. Picasso famously carried such a sketchbook and a handful of pencils at all times to record images he might come upon that could be subsequently used in his paintings. It contains numerous signed and unsigned sketches both in pencil and in color. Also included is a splendid art book about his sketchbooks. The sketchbook can be viewed where it is prominently displayed in the library of the great stately home described in www.phgmag.com/mediterranean-masterpiece. The estate executor selling it does not know who owned it previously or how it was acquired. And that does not matter – it must now be sold to settle an estate. What is certain is that if forensics subsequently authenticates it as being original it will be worth millions instead of thousands. The executor is sufficiently sure of its authenticity that partial ownership with full possession, with the seller’s trust owning the remainder, is possible if the buyer will agree to have the painting sold by Sotheby’s when Sotheby’s begins accepting forensics as proof of authenticity in lieu of Sotheby’s current requirement of perfect provenances.