PARIS — A retired French
electrician and his wife have come forward with 271 undocumented,
never-before-seen works by Pablo Picasso estimated to be worth at least $79.35
million, an administrator of the artist’s estate said.
The couple for years squirreled
away the staggering trove — which is believed to be authentic, but whose origin
is unclear — in their garage on the French Riviera, said Picasso Administration
lawyer Jean-Jacques Neuer.
The cache, dating from the artist’s
most creative period from 1900 to 1932, includes lithographs, portraits,
watercolours, and sketches — plus nine Cubist collages said to be worth $52
million alone, according to French daily Liberation.
Pierre Le Guennec, a 71-year-old
former electrician who once worked for Picasso, and his wife showed many of the
works to Picasso’s son Claude and other estate administrators in Paris in
September seeking to have the works certified as authentic, the lawyer said.
Shortly after that meeting, Neuer
filed suit on behalf of Picasso’s heirs for alleged illegal receipt of the
works — and police investigators are looking into how Le Guennec and his wife
came by the pictures.
The couple said that they were
given the works by Picasso and his wife, Jacqueline, according to a police
official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is
under way.
Claude Picasso, quoted in
Liberation, noted that his father was known for his generosity — but that he
always dedicated, dated and signed his gifts, as he knew that some recipients
might try to sell the works one day.
“To give away such a large
quantity, that’s unheard-of. It doesn’t hold water,” Claude Picasso was
quoted in Liberation as saying. “This was part of his life.”
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