Career
Le Guennec, who had worked for Picasso installing burglar alarms in the early 1970s, said that the artist"s second wife Jacqueline Roque had given him a trunk full of artworks as a gift, about 40 years ago. 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.
Police questioned Le Guennec and confiscated the works.
He has not been charged with a crime but a judge will rule whether he can get the artworks back. 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. Picasso"s heirs claimed that the artist would not have given that many works to a workman not known to be among his friends, and that, further, he always dedicated, dated and signed his gifts.
Pepita Dupont, who wrote a book about Jacqueline Roque, called her "generosity itself".
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. In 2015 Pierre Le Guennec was found guilty by a French court of stealing the works of Picasso.