A « lost » work of Picasso seen in the mother of the new president of the Philippines

It was a visit that was to go unnoticed. When, on the evening of May 9, Ferdinand Marcos Junior visits his mother, filmed by his communication team, he exults. He, son of a fallen dictator, having had to go into exile in Hawaii in 1986, here he is president of the Republic of the Philippines, at the end of an election marked by torrents of disinformation. He takes his mother in his arms.

But this is not the image that will have marked the most informed viewers. No, it’s a painting, at the top left of the camera frame, which puzzles. A woman is represented there, naked, in the pure tradition of the cubist artistic movement. We recognize the mark of the famous painter Picasso. Table, Reclining Woman VIis supposed to have been seized eight years ago, but now it is found in Imelda Marcos, widow of the dictator and mother of the current president.

Read also: Philippines. Who is Marcos Junior, the new triumphantly elected president?

The Reclining Woman VI by Picasso is among more than 200 works of art acquired by the Marcos clan when it was in power, with money siphoned from the Philippines, explains the magazine specializing in art The Art Newspaper. After the ousting of Ferdinand Marcos during the People Power Revolution in 1986, and the flight of the family into exile in Hawaii, a Presidential Committee for Good Governance (PCGG) was created to investigate and recover plundered wealth.

A Picasso believed to have been seized in 2014, but which could well be a fake

The Picasso painting seen in the video was on a list of property the government allegedly seized from the family in 2014. But former PCGG commissioner Andres Bautista told the Rappler news site the painting was a fake. “Personally, I know what we seized was a fake. So [la vraie toile] is always with them, did he declare.

True or false table?

For Ruben Carranza, formerly at the head of the PCGG, the picture observed this Monday, May 9 would be a replica. “Imelda Marcos has a habit of buying fake paintings, as well as lending fake paintings to display. The fact that she is now displaying this canvas shows her extravagance. This is about showing Filipinos that they are rolling in gold… That says something even worse”he explains to the British daily The Guardian .

Corruption and the Marcos, a long love story

During the twenty years of his father’s regime (1965-1986), the bloodthirsty Marcos clan stole billions of dollars from the coffers of the country for his personal enrichment. The PCGG is said to have recovered around $5 billion, while another $2.4 billion has been mired in litigation, with more still missing, according to recent reports.

The Marcos family continues to face dozens of court cases over their plundered wealth. Imelda appealed in 2018 against a criminal conviction on seven counts of corruption.

Asked at a press conference, the new president’s spokesman, Vic Rodriguez, declined to comment on whether the artwork displayed in Marcos’ home was genuine.