As part of a deal between his daughter, Maya Ruiz-Picasso, and the French government, France will receive nine paintings by Pablo Picasso. Ruiz-donation Picasso's was meant to help pay off an inheritance tax bill. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire made this statement in front of the Picasso Museum in Paris on Monday. For our country to have these new works by Picasso, is an incredible honor. They will enrich and enhance our cultural heritage, according to Minister of Finance Bruno Le Maire.
Bruno Le Maire and Roselyne Bachelot, Maya Ruiz-Picasso, Olivier Widmaier-Picasso with Pablo Picasso's Child with a Lollipop Sitting Under a Chair (1938). @MinistereCC
At the press conference, the Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, presented a single piece of work for the attendees to see: a painting from 1938 called Child with a Lollipop Sitting Under a Chair. The great-grandson of the artist, Olivier Widmaier-Picasso, believes that the work depicts his mother, Maya. Maya, Diana, and Widmaier-Picasso were all in attendance at the ceremony. The oldest piece in the collection is a portrait of Picasso's father from 1895, Don Jose Ruiz.
Such high-profile gifts are still rare, but citizens of France have been allowed to settle inheritance tax bill debts like Picasso's this since 1968. There was no mention of the collective value of the nine objects. French culture minister Roselyne Bachelot revealed that the artworks will be exhibited as a whole to the public in 2022 and that the gifts will enter the national collections at Paris's Musée Picasso.
The donation of the artworks to the national collections marks an exceptional event, which was stated by Bachelot.
Jean Dubreil
