An art exhibition with Picasso paintings created headlines after being moved to a ladies' toilet at the end of June. Now, the artist Kirsha Kaechele, who created the exhibition, announces that the works are fake.
It's not actually Picasso who painted the paintings – it's Kaechele herself.
The works were set up as part of the exhibition "Ladies lounge" at the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania in 2020. In the spring, the exhibition had to close because it excluded male visitors, but in June, Kaechele announced that the paintings had been moved to the museum's ladies' toilet instead.
In a statement on the museum's website, Kaechele writes that she chooses to tell the truth about the works after receiving several questions about their authenticity. They were displayed at the exhibition for over three years and the bluff was not revealed – despite her hanging one of the paintings upside down.
"I thought that some Picasso researcher or Picasso fan, or just someone who looks things up on Google, would expose me. But it never happened", writes Kaechele.
