Picasso treasure trove worth £50m discovered

A retired French electrician has come forward with 271 previously unknown pictures by Pablo Picasso worth some £50m - sparking an immediate lawsuit from the artist's family. Pierre Le Guennec, 71, who once worked for the prolific Spanish-born painter, had kept the artworks inside a trunk in the garage of his home on the French Riviera.

The pictures include lithographs, watercolours, portraits and sketches and date from Picasso's most creative period, between 1900 and 1930, according to reports in France. Nine of them are collages from his Cubist period which are said to be worth £33m alone.

They came to light when Le Guennec and his wife showed some of them to the painter's son, Claude, and other administrators of his estate in an attempt to have them authenticated.

After that meeting, Picasso administration lawyer Jean-Jacques Neuer filed a lawsuit on behalf of the artist's heirs for alleged illegal receipt of the works. A police investigation into how the couple came by the pictures is also under way.

But Danielle Le Guennec told AP news agency: "This was a gift. We aren't thieves. We didn't do anything wrong." She said she and her husband were bringing the pictures to light because they were getting on in years and did not want to leave any "headaches" to their children.

Claude Picasso acknowledged that his father - whose painting career lasted from the 1880s to the 1970s - was known for his generosity but said all his gifts were dedicated, dated and signed. He said: "To give away such a large quantity, that's unheard of. It doesn't hold water. This was part of his life."

The works - which Mr and Mrs Le Guennec say they do not want to sell - are currently being held by France's official agency in charge of battling the illegal traffic of cultural items.