Finding Lost Art: Picasso Treasure Trove 'Came Out of Nowhere'

Nov. 29, 2010— -- The discovery of what is believed to be 271 works of art by Pablo Picasso has dropped jaws in the art world, where people had no idea such a trove was out there.

Now the race is on not only to figure out exactly where the art came from, but where it goes now.

"These came out of nowhere," said Christopher Marinello, executive director and general counsel for the London-based Art Loss Register, which maintains the largest international database of lost and stolen works of art.

"We think that if these were to be placed in the marketplace today, given what we've seen recently, even in a downturned market," Marinello said, "these could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, especially as a group."

But whether the pieces will ever make it to the open market remains to be seen.

Soon after Pierre Le Guennec, a retired French electrician, and his wife showed some of the 271 pieces to Picasso's son, Claude Picasso, in September, The Associated Press reported, the late artist's estate, the Picasso Administration, filed suit.

Though Le Guennec and his wife claim the Picassos were given to them by the artist himself after Le Guennec did work for him, authorities in France are now investigating how Le Guennec and his wife came to own so many of the prized works.

Marinello said the Art Loss Register has the same question.

"Two hundred and seventy-one is a fairly sizeable body of work to be a gift," Marinello said. "It does look a little suspicious coming from someone who installed burglar alarms in a couple of Picasso properties."

Though the Art Loss Register keeps tabs on some 900 Picassos -- and 30 fakes -- Marinello said there is no way to tell how many more may be out there.

According to the ALR database, there are currently 72 missing Picassos and another 702 that have been reported stolen. According to an ALR historian, most of the stolen Picassos registered with them are out of the United States.

Picassos are considered high-profile targets, according to ALR, because thieves don't account for registries like ALR and don't realize they can't easily sell the stolen art without alerting watchdogs like the ALR.

Marinello could not confirm or deny whether ALR was involved with France's investigation into the Le Guenneces, but noted cryptically that its president was in Paris today.