Drawing of Chicken Discovered at a Minnesota Garage Sale a Picasso? Sent to Expert for Verification of Authenticity
Minneapolis - April 1, 2025: Oliver Nelson felt he had found something significant when he first spotted the drawing under a stack of household items at a garage sale in Northeast Minneapolis in August of last year. “It was a line drawing of a chicken. But it was sort of, you know, abstract and geometric. Hell, I don’t know anything about art, but I’ve watched shows about Picasso on PBS, and it just looked like the real deal to me.”
Nelson paid ten dollars for the drawing, took it home and hung it on the wall above his television, unsure what he should do next. “I thought about it a lot,” Nelson related. “Every time I sat down in the recliner and flipped on the tube, I’d look up and there it was.” Eventually, in February of this year, Nelson acted. “I called the art department at the U. I figured somebody there could help me out.” Eventually, he reached art historian Lana Ballack.
“He told me what he thought he had,” Dr. Ballack explained in a recent interview. “And I told him about the Picasso Authentication Board.” The Picasso Authentication Board, a board of art experts in Paris managed by Picasso’s heirs, is the official body charged with examining any newly discovered artwork that may have been created by Pablo Picasso.
Nelson carefully packaged his potentially priceless artwork and mailed it to Paris. “Yeah. That was a mistake,” he recounted. I guess you’re supposed to send photos of the art and some other information. I didn’t know that. I screwed up.” But Nelson’s mistake allowed the experts in Paris the ability to examine the work firsthand and in detail.
“There is unequivocally no question in my mind,” exclaimed Picasso specialist, Francine Calder. “I am absolutely confident. The first thing I do when I’m authenticating a piece is to examine it closely with a loupe. I did not need to do that in this case. This drawing is merde. C'est affreux. It is so obviously not a Picasso. There is no signature. My best estimation is that it is a recently created drawing. It is rendered with a felt-tipped marker on paper that is probably from a brown paper grocery bag. Perhaps by a child.”
Oliver Nelson is not convinced. “You know, a lot of my friends have seen this drawing and they’re all completely sure it’s the real deal. Who is this Francine Calder, anyway? Who made her the expert? Experts can be terrible. Look at the mess the world is in because of all these experts! Look at the mess! Anyway, who should I believe? One person I don’t know or a dozen of my friends? It’s twelve to one!” Nelson shrugged. “Anyway, I asked them to send the drawing back to me. If it’s not a Picasso maybe it was done by that other guy. What’s his name? Van Gogh! I’m sending it off to have the Van Gogh people look at it!”
Minneapolis resident Oliver Nelson with chicken drawing.
