The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in the Australian state of Tasmania has admitted that the Pablo Picasso paintings exhibited as part of the Ladies Lounge installation are fakes.
Works by Pablo Picasso and Sidney Nolan were exhibited back in 2020 during an installation by American artist Kirsha Kechele. This interactive exhibition aimed to create a safe space specifically for a female audience. She had to show historical injustice, because until 1965 women in Australia were forbidden to visit pubs.
mona.net.au
It was noted that Kechele inherited these paintings from her great-grandmother, who was supposedly Picasso's lover. However, only after four years it became clear that not all works of the Spanish artist are original. For example, one of the paintings exhibited at MONA as part of the Ladies Lounge installation was painted by Kirshi Kechele herself. In particular, "Lunch on the Grass by Manet" of 1961.
"Let me explain — I have no choice but to explain," Kechele wrote on her blog.
Courtroom sketch by Natalie Holzbaum in the style of Picasso
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She deliberately planned this scandal. She was waiting for connoisseurs of Picasso's work to reveal her. Kechele also noted that she drew fakes secretly and none of the organizers of the exhibition knew about it. The woman ended her appeal with an apology.
"Antique" spears and a carpet that "belonged to Queen Mary of Denmark" also turned out to be fake.
mona.net.au
Source: theguardian.com
mona.net.au
