Pablo Picasso’s former handyman, Pierre Le Guennec, was found guilty for a third time of stealing artworks from the painter
Pablo Picasso’s former handyman has been found guilty for a third time for stealing artworks from the painter after a 10-year court battle.
The conflict began when Pierre Le Guennec travelled from his home in southern France to the Picasso estate office in Paris in September 2010.
He and his wife Danielle took a suitcase crammed with 271 of the artist’s unsigned works to get them authenticated.
The collection included 171 watercolor paintings and lithographs, nine Cubist collages and 91 drawings that were shared between two notebooks.
The former electrician and handyman had worked in various homes of the Spanish artist in the early 1970s.
He claimed that the artworks had been gifts from Picasso himself that he had then kept in the garage for nearly 40 years.
But police launched an investigation into the couple’s story and a lawsuit that claimed the pieces were ‘stolen goods’ was raised against Le Guennec and his wife shortly after.
The case was taken all the way up to France’s top appeals court in the saga that lasted nearly a decade.
The couple had been found guilty twice before but the highest court in France last week upheld the couple’s convictions for receiving and concealing stolen Picasso artworks which brought the 10-year battle to a close.
Le Guennec, now 80, and Danielle, 76, both received a two-year suspended jail sentence.
Picasso died in 1973. One of his most expensive pieces, titled Green Leaves and Bust, was sold at auction in 2010 for $106.5million (£82.9million)
The couple had not been in court to receive the final verdict and had instead heard about the judge’s decision from their neighbours.
They have both consistently denied stealing the artwork.
There has not yet been a precise price tag associated with the collection but it is likely to be in the millions of pounds, according to Jean-Jacques Neuer, the lawyer for Picasso’s son.
The collection is currently being held in the Bank of France.
Picasso died in 1973.
One of his most expensive pieces, titled Green Leaves and Bust, was sold at auction in 2010 for $106.5million (£82.9million).
