Pablo Picasso in 1962, Vea y Lea magazine, Argentina via wikipedia
A judge in France found the owners of the Paris gallery Belle et Belle guilty of selling dozens of stolen Picasso prints and drawings. They were sentenced to five years in prison and told they couldn't sell art for five years. Belle et Belle will also end because of the ruling. The owners of the gallery, Anne and Herbert Pfeffer, were found guilty on November 18 of buying stolen art from Picasso's daughters Aimé Maeght and Jacqueline Picasso and then hiding it.
The verdict ends an investigation that started more than 10 years ago when it was found that Frédéric "Freddy" Munchenbach, a handyman who worked for both Picasso and Maeght, stole the paintings from their homes several times between 2006 and 2008. The more than $13.8 million worth of Picasso drawings and original prints were stolen from two sisters who live next door to each other near the Parc Montsouris in Paris.
Muchenbach was locked up for four months in 2011 because of the thefts. Even though he admitted to committing the crimes, he was let go in the end because the time limit for those crimes had passed. During the trial, the Pfeffers denied doing anything wrong. However, the court said that the couple "well knew" that pictures they sold or hid were among the works that the handyman had stolen. Anne and Herbert will have their sentences of one and two years, respectively, put on hold.
Selena Mattei
