Withanage had bought the house just four months before in June, when it sold at a previous auction for just over €20 million, bidding up from €18.3 million. Illustrious celebrities were frequent visitors, among them Winston Churchill, who liked to paint on the grounds of the sprawling villa. "The work of this period is important," writes Le Figaro. His painting no longer respects any rules: it is incomplete, inaccessible, with runs," Picasso expert, Anne Baldassari, told Le Figaro. "The house, so closed for a long time, keeps its secrets," according to Le Figaro.

Source: Forbes October 15, 2017 00:45 UTC