Pierre Le Guennec

Last updated

Pierre Le Guennec (born 1939) is a retired French electrician who announced, in 2010, that he was in possession of 271 undocumented, never before seen works by Pablo Picasso that were estimated to be worth at least 60 million euros (about US$80 million). [1]

Le Guennec, who had worked for Picasso installing burglar alarms in the early 1970s, [1] said that the artist's second wife Jacqueline Roque had given him a trunk full of artworks as a gift, about 40 years ago. [2] He contacted Picasso's son and heirs in September 2010 to have the works authenticated; the administrators of Picasso's estate found the works to be authentic and filed a lawsuit alleging they were received illegally. [3] Police questioned Le Guennec and confiscated the works. [4] He has not been charged with a crime but a judge will rule whether he can get the artworks back. [2]

The works date from 1900 to 1932 and "include lithographs, portraits, watercolors and sketches -- plus nine Cubist collages." [1] "Among them are a richly colored hand study; a sketch of his first wife, Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova, resting an elbow in a seated pose; and a collage of a pipe and bottle." [4]

Geneviève Laporte described acts of extraordinary generosity by her former lover Picasso. He is known to have given paintings and sketches to his chauffeur, favorite doctors, merchants and his barber. [2] Picasso's heirs claimed that the artist would not have given that many works to a workman not known to be among his friends, [4] and that, further, he always dedicated, dated and signed his gifts. [1] Pepita Dupont, who wrote a book about Jacqueline Roque, called her "generosity itself". [2]

Maurice Bresnu, Picasso's driver and friend, also had a large collection of works by Picasso and was accused of theft by Picasso's heirs. Bresnu's niece claimed that he had openly admitted the theft to her. He also said that he had gotten Pierre Le Guennec, a first cousin of Bresnu's wife, into Picasso's house. [5]

In 2015 Pierre Le Guennec was found guilty by a French court of possessing stolen works by Picasso. [6] On the March 1st 2018 the Court of Cassation invalidated the judgment. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pablo Picasso</span> Spanish painter and sculptor (1881–1973)

Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and the anti-war painting Guernica (1937), a dramatic portrayal of the bombing of Guernica by German and Italian air forces during the Spanish Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musée Picasso</span> Museum in Paris, France

The Musée Picasso is an art gallery located in the Hôtel Salé in rue de Thorigny, in the Marais district of Paris, France, dedicated to the work of the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). The museum collection includes more than 5,000 works of art and tens of thousands of archived pieces from Picasso's personal repository, including the artist's photographic archive, personal papers, correspondence, and author manuscripts. A large portion of items were donated by Picasso's family after his death, in accord with the wishes of the artist, who lived in France from 1905 to 1973.

<i>Surviving Picasso</i> 1996 American film

Surviving Picasso is a 1996 American biographical drama film directed by James Ivory and starring Anthony Hopkins as the famous painter Pablo Picasso. It was produced by Ismail Merchant and David L. Wolper. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's screenplay was loosely based on the 1988 biography Picasso: Creator and Destroyer by Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambroise Vollard</span> French art dealer (1866–1939)

Ambroise Vollard was a French art dealer who is regarded as one of the most important dealers in French contemporary art at the beginning of the twentieth century. He is credited with providing exposure and emotional support to numerous then-unknown artists, including Paul Cézanne, Aristide Maillol, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Louis Valtat, Pablo Picasso, André Derain, Georges Rouault, Paul Gauguin, and Vincent van Gogh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vallauris</span> Commune in Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur, France

Vallauris is a seaside commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. It is located in the metropolitan area of Antibes, bordering it on its west side. The seaside town Golfe-Juan is a part of the commune of Vallauris. Golfe-Juan-Vallauris station has rail connections to Grasse, Cannes, Antibes and Nice.

Maya with Doll is an oil painting by Pablo Picasso. Created in 1938, the New York Times described it as "a colorful Cubist portrait of Picasso’s daughter as a child clutching a doll."

Jacqueline is an oil painting by Pablo Picasso, created in 1961. The New York Times described it as "a black, gray and white Cubist oil of Jacqueline Roque, Picasso’s second wife."

<i>Portrait of Suzanne Bloch</i> 1904 painting by Pablo Picasso

Portrait of Suzanne Bloch is an oil on canvas painting executed by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso in Paris in 1904, towards the end of his Blue Period. The subject, Suzanne Bloch, was a singer known for her Wagner interpretations, and the sister of the violinist Henri Bloch. The painting is housed in the São Paulo Museum of Art.

Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris or MAM Paris, is a major municipal museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art of the 20th and 21st centuries, including monumental murals by Raoul Dufy, Gaston Suisse, and Henri Matisse. It is located at 11, Avenue du Président Wilson in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqueline Roque</span> French model

Jacqueline Picasso or Jacqueline Roque was the muse and second wife of Pablo Picasso. Their marriage lasted 12 years until his death, during which time he created over 400 portraits of her, more than any of Picasso's other lovers.

Eugène Fidler was a French painter and ceramicist of Bessarabian Jewish origin. Fidler belongs to the group of ceramicists who worked in the era called the « Golden Years of Vallauris », and he is also known as a painter, for his collages and water colours. His works have been purchased by collectors all over the world. He also showed them in France and abroad.

Toni Musulin is a French man of Serb and Croat origin, and a former security van driver for the Loomis security firm. He is known for having stolen €11.6 million from the Banque de France while on duty.

<i>Le pigeon aux petits pois</i> 1911 painting by Pablo Picasso

Le pigeon aux petit pois, sometimes referred to as Dove with green peas, is a 1911 oil on canvas painting by Pablo Picasso. It is an example of Picasso's Cubist works and has an estimated value of €23 million. The painting was one of five artworks stolen from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris on 20 May 2010, which together are valued at €100 million. It has so far not been recovered and its whereabouts remain unknown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornelius Gurlitt (art collector)</span>

Rolf Nikolaus Cornelius Gurlitt was a German art collector. The son of Hildebrand Gurlitt, a Nazi-era dealer of looted art, Gurlitt was discovered to have concealed a stash of artworks known as the Gurlitt trove or Gurlitt Collection, several of which have been proven to have been looted from Jews by Nazis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bouvier Affair</span> International art fraud scandal

The Bouvier Affair was a number of international lawsuits that started in 2015, and subsequent events. The lawsuits allege that Swiss art shipper and dealer Yves Bouvier defrauded his clients by misrepresenting the original cost of art works and subsequently overcharging them. The affair has played out in courts in Monaco, Switzerland, France, the US, Hong Kong and Singapore.

<i>Still Life with Candlestick</i> 1922 painting by Fernand Léger

Still Life with Candlestick is an oil painting created in 1922 by the French artist Fernand Léger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marina Picasso</span> French humanitarian and granddaughter of Pablo Picasso

Marina Picasso is the granddaughter of Pablo Picasso. She inherited a fifth of her grandfather's estate and has used much of the inheritance to fund humanitarian efforts for children in need. She has five children and lives in Geneva, Switzerland and Cannes, France.

<i>Femme au Chien</i> Painting by Pablo Picasso

Femme au Chien is an oil-on-canvas painting by Pablo Picasso, which he painted in 1962. It is a portrait of Picasso's second wife, Jacqueline Roque, and their dog Kaboul, an Afghan Greyhound. The painting is an illustration of the great affection that Picasso displayed for both of the subjects in the portrait and has elements of the cubist style that he pioneered. It was produced in Picasso's later years when the couple was living at Notre-Dame-de-Vie, near Mougins, France. On 14 May 2019, it was sold at Sotheby's auction for almost $55 million and is now housed in the collection of Wynn Fine Art in Florida.

<i>Womans Head</i> (Picasso) Painting by Pablo Picasso

Woman's Head is a 1939 oil-on-canvas painting by Pablo Picasso. It is a depiction of Dora Maar, Picasso's companion at the time. Picasso donated the work to the people of Greece in recognition of their resistance against the Axis during the Second World War. Woman's Head was first exhibited in 1949, alongside other donated works, at the Institut Français in Athens. It was not shown again until an exhibition starting in 1980 at the National Gallery and was on continuous show from 2011 until the gallery closed for renovation in 2012. In January 2012 Woman's Head was stolen from the closed gallery, alongside a painting by Piet Mondrian. It was recovered from a gorge near Athens in June 2021 and the alleged thief was arrested.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Staggering Picasso Trove Turns Up In France". npr. November 29, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Court to test Picasso's mean spirit". Sunday Times. March 20, 2011.
  3. Picasso's electrician reveals artist's 'treasure trove', BBC, November 29, 2010
  4. 1 2 3 "Staggering Picasso trove turns up in France". The Washington Times. November 29, 2010.
  5. "His Chauffeur, An Electrician And The Mysterious $50 Million Stash Of Picassos". Worldcrunch. 23 March 2012. (originally from Le Monde)
  6. Chrisafis, Angelique (2015-03-20). "French couple guilty of possessing stolen Picasso works". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2016-02-01.
  7. "Affaire Picasso-Le Guennec : la Cour de cassation ne voit pas de preuve du vol" (in French). Le Figaro. 2018-03-02. Retrieved 2019-06-16.