Picasso Heirs Denounce Major Theft

The world of art was stunned by the news of an alleged, unprecedented theft, not only for the number of artworks involved in it and their undisputed value, but also because the case can’t be judged since the crime prescribes. The story characters are Pablo Picasso and Pierre Guenec, a man who was presumably his personal electrician for several years.

Claude Picasso, the artist’s son, received a request earlier this year to validate a considerable number of pieces. These artworks were totally unknown, so Claude decided to get in touch with Guenec, the sender of the requesting letters. When they finally met, the surprise couldn’t be any bigger: all in all Guenec owns 271 pieces created in the first third of the 20th century which are worth 60 million euros. Picasso’s alleged electrician claims the painter gave him this staggering number of drawings, paintings and sketches as gifts, something that goes against the grain for the heirs because many of these pieces are not even signed or dedicated, which was Picasso’s customary gesture. This is the biggest crime evidence, Claude Picasso was exclusively quoted as saying in the Libération newspaper. For him, Guenec was biding his time to present the artworks without fear of punishment whatsoever.

The artworks were seized by authorities at the Central Office for the Struggle against Cultural Assets Smuggling in Nanterre. The heirs are intended to recover the pieces for the sake of art history.

Source: Libération newspaper, Paris 11/29/2010