Yes, a tear right across the face of that lovely maiden in your painting will sink the value of the painting quite a bit. Who wants to buy damaged goods? We appraisers will usually be able to see repairs or have the tools to find them. The most famous story about a damaged painting recalls how Steve Wynn accidentally put his elbow through a Picasso RIGHT before his fellow art collecting pal Steve Cohen was due to pay $139,000,000.00 for it. That unfortunate incident dropped the painting’s value by 70 million!
Yes, a restorer could have repaired it, but Picasso is dead, and not around to repair his own painting. So, it not longer is a 100% Picasso painting.
Le Rêve (The Dream) by Pablo Picasso
Please do NOT DREAM of ever “repairing ” any of your works of art that could be of value. How do you know if it’s valuable? Hire an appraiser, of course!
Check out the story in detail: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/10/23/061023ta_talk_paumgarten.
